Introduction

The pace of the world is gradually increasing. By this, we mean the pace of how we conduct business. Say, you order food, these days you would be disappointed if the order doesn’t reach you fast enough. As logistics improve, the speed of delivery will also improve. This same analogy applies to when we use the internet. Earlier, download and upload speeds used to be slow. Nowadays, if it is not instantaneous, it is underwhelming. 

Websites from all over the world face the same issue. They need to be rapid. If your website is comparatively slower than your competitors, chances are your customers are going to them instead of waiting around.

There are many ways to ensure that your website is fast and fluid. One of them is through CDNs or Content Delivery Networks. A CDN works by using various servers around the world and can speed up the process of a user’s request or query and the website load time.     

In this guide, we at Teckea have tried to inseminate a useful amount of information to help you know everything you need to about a CDN. 

What is a CDN? 

If you ask CloudFlare, the world’s leading CDN provider, a Content Delivery Network can be defined as “a geographically distributed group of servers which work together to provide fast delivery of internet content.”. 

Through a CDN, your website will run smoothly, no matter where in the world. It works by using a process called “caching” where the CDN will temporarily keep your website content on its server. So a person using your website in one part of the world does not have to be located closer to you in order to access the website quicker.  

What is the purpose of CDN?

The purpose of a CDN is to help you expand and to reach people all over the world, in a better way. Sure, SEO and other forms of marketing strategies will help you get there first but to retain visitors, your website needs to be fast. And since it can’t be ubiquitously everywhere, a CDN helps solve that issue. 

Why use a CDN? 

To reach everyone around the world. A CDN ensures that your website is not just local but can cater to global audiences effectively.

Is a CDN necessary and what are the advantages of using a CDN?

Yes, for websites that have a global presence and complex architecture, and loads of content, a CDN is a necessity. However, you don’t have to be either to utilize the benefits of a CDN. More than half the world’s websites use a CDN. 

There are also other advantages of using a CDN. You get much faster load times, the security is far more robust, and in case of high traffic, you will not face redundancy issues. CDNs also make your site scalable, and it also helps lower bandwidth costs. 

How do CDNs work? 

So, a key difference that you need to know between CDNs and Web Hosting is that both are independent entities. While CDNs do have servers that can host website content, you will still require web hosting services to run your website. Remember that CDNs use the website content that is originally stored in your “origin server”. Any changes and updates you make have to be on the origin server, the CDN simply copies and stores them.  

You can also use Cloud Storage to scale your website as per your needs. CDNs are still required as they help facilitate better site loading speeds. 

Benefits of using a CDN

We have touched on the advantages of using a CDN. But let’s take a deeper dive and see why they can be really beneficial.

1. Faster load times: We cannot stress this enough but if a website takes longer to load, you will have a very high bounce rate. The bounce rate can jump by as much as 90% if a site page’s load time goes from 1 second to 5 seconds! 
2. Low bandwidth costs: So, if you want your website content to reach the user faster you will have to pay more. The same applies if you want it to be available everywhere. The combination of these two factors is called the bandwidth cost. 
3. Helps scale and beat redundancy: The best advantage of using a CDN is that it helps with scalability. When there are hardware failures, your website isn’t compromised. The various CDN servers can help ensure that the site is running. And when you need to scale up due to heavy traffic, a CDN can help you distribute the server load across its network. 
4. Security features: With a CDN, your servers are more robust. It can help evade DDoS attacks as all your server data won’t be in one place. CDNs also offer you DDoS mitigation along with the option to block content at the edge servers.   

Conclusion

Well then, that was the guide to help you get to know everything you need about CDNs. Now that you have a basic idea of what content delivery networks can do for you, get in touch with us at Teckea. We can help find the best possible solution for your business and help you understand its advantages and disadvantages further.