What is Content Delivery Network (CDN)

A Content Delivery Network (or CDN) is a network of servers spread across different locations around the world that work together to deliver website content, like images, videos, and web pages to users no matter where they are.

A brief history

Early websites were served from a single server, often located far away from many visitors. This meant that loading a site could be slow for people far from that server. To fix this, CDNs were created to place copies of website content on many servers across different locations. When someone visits a site using a CDN, the content is loaded from the closest server, making it much faster.

Good to know

CDNs don’t just speed up websites; they also improve reliability and security. By distributing traffic across many servers, they protect sites from traffic spikes and cyber attacks. For ecommerce sites, that means keeping your store running smoothly, even during big sales or sudden traffic surges.

Know more

Frequently Asked Questions

What exactly is stored on the CDN servers?
Copies of your website’s static content (things that don’t change often), like images, videos, stylesheets, and sometimes whole HTML pages, are stored on CDN servers.
Does every website use a CDN?
Not all websites use a CDN, but many do. It’s especially common for sites with visitors spread across different countries or for sites with lots of media content. Small local sites might skip it, but it’s becoming more standard as speed matters more.
Can I control where my content is stored?
You usually can’t pick exact servers, but you can often choose general regions or countries where your CDN serves content, depending on your provider.
Does a CDN improve security?
Yes, a CDN does improve security! By spreading traffic over many servers, a CDN helps prevent traffic overload and protects against some cyber attacks, like DDoS.