Content Delivery Network (CDN) – a distributed network of servers located in various geographical points to accelerate the delivery of digital content to end users. CDN allows placing copies of data closer to the audience, significantly reducing loading time and improving web application performance.
How CDN Works
The main idea behind CDN is creating multiple points of presence (PoP – Points of Presence) in different regions worldwide. When a user requests content, the CDN automatically directs the request to the nearest server storing a cached copy of the required data. This substantially reduces the geographical distance data must travel, minimizing response time and load on the main server.
CDN uses intelligent routing systems that consider not only geographical proximity but also current server load, connection bandwidth, content availability in cache, and user connection conditions.
Types of Content in CDN
CDN effectively processes various types of digital content:
- Static content – images, CSS, JavaScript, documents, and other unchangeable files;
- Dynamic content – data generated in real-time or personalized for the user;
- Video content – streaming video, video on demand (VOD), live broadcasts;
- Software – downloading updates, installation files, patches;
- API responses – caching and accelerating API calls.
Advantages of Using CDN
Statistics show that each second of page loading delay reduces conversion by approximately 7%. With CDN, performance improvement and user experience are achieved through significant reduction in page and application loading times. Fast access to content directly affects user satisfaction and increases conversion rates for commercial sites.
Increased availability and reliability are provided through CDN’s distributed architecture. When one network node fails, requests are automatically redirected to other servers. This model ensures a high level of fault tolerance and virtually eliminates situations of complete content unavailability.
CDN remains a critically important technology for the modern internet, providing fast and reliable content delivery to a global audience regardless of their location and devices used.