Businesses often use a Content Delivery Network or CDN to reduce the delay & latency on a network. CDN uses multiple & geographically scattered Data Centers, also known as Points of Presence (PoPs). When it comes to image hosting, static images can be deployed across these servers that ensure quick delivery, thus reducing the download time.
What is a CDN?
A Content Delivery Network or CDN defines a system of multiple servers containing replicated data present & stored across different PoPs. A rightly implemented CDN Solution helps in improving the data access as it increases bandwidth, thereby minimizing the latency. A CDN Solution comprises various elements like video downloads, image downloads, applications, and other objects. A trusted CDN provider comprises multiple & localized Points of Presence (PoPs) or Data Centers connected over the Internet.
How CDN Works
CDN Solutions contain several replicas of static resources present in the website and then cache these across various Data Centers that are geographically scattered. Whenever there is a website visitor, the visitor is presented with core and dynamic content present. The user updates the content frequently, and the static content present in the website uses their source URLs to be rewritten, delivered from different geographically scattered Data Centers.
Types of CDN
There are two basic models in any CDN Solution: peer-to-peer (P2P) network and peering/private models.
Peer-to-peer Network Model
This CDN Model is highly decentralized and made up of systems of individual users having access to certain files that can be extracted from the servers. In a P2P CDN Model, it becomes feasible for the CDN users to host their website along with the associated files. The biggest drawback of this CDN Model is security, and the complete processing of collecting files at a single destination can sometimes become a challenging task.
Peering/Private CDN Model
In this CDN model, enterprises ensure servers are geographically scattered. Each of the localized PoPs contains replicas of user files, and when a website visitor visits it, they can download the files from the Data Center that is present geographically closest to them. In a peering/private CDN model, the loading time gets enhanced multi-folds and secures the website from any crashes or failures.
How CDN Benefits?
With a CDN Solution in place, the following benefits are gained by users-
Speed
A CDN Solution assures website visitors by serving files directly from the Data Center present geographically closest to them. Such localized Data Centers reduce the distance traveled by the file and the number of relays & steps. This enhanced speed offered by CDN Solutions can be of great help, especially in large-sized files, as they tend to take a longer time than the small ones. Smaller images have very low loading times and are fetched quickly from the nearest Data Centers.
Provides Alternates to Hosting
Users often use webservers for multiple reasons. The primary concern rests with the fact the website visitors are geographically dispersed, resulting in lower loading & accessing speeds. With a CDN solution deployed, it becomes easier to determine the main server and the hosting provider that meets the increasing needs of website visitors.
Reliability
CDN Solutions are well known for delivering redundancy. There is a constant risk of webservers facing physical damage or lags in the installed software. In case a node is not available, and a CDN solution is deployed. The network reconfigures itself for delivering the user requested data from the best node present in the network. In the case of websites, it is proven that hosting images enhance viewership by multi-folds; however, a single PoP can hamper the website’s performance during traffic surges. With a Content Delivery Network in place, the network distributes the load by redirecting the image requests to different CDN servers. As the load is distributed within the network, images and other media files on the website get loaded at faster rates.
Security
CDN solutions are often used by business heads handling highly confidential & sensitive data. CDN helps such CIOs & CTOs from these industries by providing them a high-level cyber defense against attempts made for hacking. Such security mechanisms are implemented on a broad level, benefitting every end-user.
Concluding Remarks
Content Delivery Network or CDN plays an important role in reducing the time taken by web hosting servers to process and deliver the user requested content. It also minimizes latency by fetching data from the nearest Data Centers present in the network, resulting in lower delay. Longer delays in data loading result in lower user experience, but with CDN, this problem is easily addressed, and user experience gets enhanced. Besides faster loading & data replications, CDN ensures that during scenarios like traffic surges, network downtimes, the website remains secure & safeguarded across the network. For websites, it plays an important role in improving their ranking.
Brijesh is a website copywriter and content strategist. He helps businesses stop playing around with content marketing and start seeing tangible ROI.