A Content Delivery Network, or CDN for short, is a special, distributed network of servers that are located in several strategic places around the globe. With the servers geographically-dispersed, the caching and serving of content to end users becomes much faster than it would normally be if all the content was being shared from a single server in a single location. The primary function of a CDN is to ensure that webpages, videos, graphics, music and other forms of online content can be delivered in the fastest time possible. Another important attribute of CDNs, however, is that they create a tremendous amount of failover.
The way content is delivered can have a huge impact on a site’s UX, or user experience. With time being such a precious commodity, most users aren’t willing to wait very long for webpages to load. There are simply way too many options on the web for that! And when an audience starts looking elsewhere because the first site they visit didn’t load quickly enough, it’s going to spell trouble for that site.
Enter the CDN
By provisioning servers in strategic places around the world, site owners are making content far more accessible to users in these various areas. The strategy behind the location of these servers is based on specific needs determined by content loading issues and the locations of anticipated end users.
CDNs are also a very important tool for creating failover between servers. For example, if a server in Location A were to go down, site visitors can still retrieve content from a server in Location B or C. Although this site traffic may not retrieve the data quite as quickly as they would from the server in Location A, they are still able to ping the site rather than simply seeing it as being down altogether.
CDNs Are on the Rise
CDN use is becoming increasingly common. In April 2014, a Markets and Markets report estimated the CDN market in the United States to reach $12B by the year 2019. Early adopters of this technology have reported excellent results and that is creating quite a stir in the hosting community. Expect to see more and more popular websites moving to Content Delivery Networks in the months and years to come.
Benefits of a CDN
Your website is probably a major part of your business. It can be used to generate leads, drive sales, feature your products or services, build your brand and so much more. That means that your site going down can have a negative impact on your business – a very negative one. We’ve briefly mentioned the benefits of using a CDN above, but let’s go into a bit more depth about each of these:
Distributed Datacenters
Imagine hosting the full contents of your site in Los Angeles, California. While this is a great location for many of your North American site visitors, visitors from Europe, Africa or Asia will not enjoy the same experience. After all, retrieving data from that site means that a ping has to hop from the end user’s server to the site’s server in Los Angeles. This won’t take very long when the request comes from San Francisco, but could create a significant wait time when that ping comes from London. By enabling a CDN, that same site content may become available not only in Los Angeles, but also in other strategic geographic locations. If the site began running on distributed servers in Los Angeles, Chicago, Atlanta, Barcelona, Amsterdam, Moscow, Calcutta and Hong Kong, then visitors from all around the world would be much more likely to enjoy a great experience on the site.
Cost Effectiveness
One of the major benefits of CDNs is that they don’t require a huge investment in infrastructure. While a global CDN does require servers housed in several strategic locations, that expense would be taken on by the network provider. This means that actual CDN users don’t have to invest in additional infrastructure or deal with the volatile costs of foreign hosting solutions. Site owners trying to reach a global audience but bound by a tight budget will find that CDNs are the perfect solution.
Available Analytics
In addition to delivering content much more swiftly, CDNs also provide valuable analytical information to site owners. This can be used to discover trends and traffic patterns that help site owners to develop a better understanding of how site visitors interact with their website. This information can then be used to optimize the site and increase user engagement, leading to better business results for the business.
The Increasing Importance of CDNs
As the world continues to become more interactive, CDN technology will continue to become more valued. With so much expected by today’s web user – regardless of location – the failure to meet those expectations can spell major trouble for businesses. However, the benfit that a CDN offers can have a tremendous impact in a positive way!