Glossary of terms

Content Delivery Network (CDN)

A CDN, also known as a content delivery network, is a global infrastructure of servers that speeds up the streaming of web content to end users by maintaining copies of files, such as images, in resources that are geographically closer to the users who are requesting the content. By using a CDN, websites reduce the load on their core servers, allowing them to handle more user requests without risking overloading their servers. CDNs provide a better user experience by facilitating faster website load times and improving website security by enabling them to effectively push out the effects of distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks and establish additional security proxies across the content delivery network.

A content delivery network can install a variety of software solutions that can help boost efficiency and security. This is possible thanks to the functionality of edge servers that act as reverse proxies. They intercept web traffic and process it using a set of rules based on software installed on your edge server. While caching content is the primary function of a CDN, they can also house threat detection software, image resizing tools, and other useful tools.

Today, there are different types of content delivery networks (CDNs), including ones operated by telecommunications companies and private CDNs created for individual companies. Examples of private CDNs are Netflix and Facebook, which have built their CDNs due to their global popularity and the voluminous data they deliver daily. Most companies that are currently considering using a CDN are opting for commercial content delivery networks. Despite the unique solutions of each CDN provider, they all operate on common principles.

Here are some of the benefits of using a CDN:

Lower loading times: by caching static files and delivering them from servers located closer to end users, website loading times are reduced.
Protection against DDoS and other attacks: CDNs protect the website server from DDoS attacks and other threats, allowing websites to effectively handle increased traffic.
Improved scalability: CDNs can handle increased traffic without requiring a significant expansion of the original server capacity.
Reduced bandwidth and hosting costs: By caching web content, CDNs reduce the amount of bandwidth required by the originating or host server, which helps to save on hosting costs.
Minimize website downtime: CDNs protect against downtime through security measures and can even provide a cached version of the site in case the original server is unavailable.

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