Join us to learn how to improve customer satisfaction through the optimization offered by Content Delivery/Distribution Networks (CDNs).
To understand the advantages that a CDN offers to our company and our customers we must first define it, know its specific uses and utilities and finally know how CDN benefits bring added value for both parties.
CDN is a configuration or architecture that optimizes the delivery of data and content. Learn about other possibilities such as microservices & Low Code-No Code.
What is a CDN?
When we make use of a Content Delivery/Distribution Network (CDN) we are using a set of geographically dispersed servers that cache content close to end users, thus generating faster web performance.
AWS defines CDN in a simple way arguing that it is:
“A network of interconnected servers that accelerate web page loading for data-intensive applications.”
According to Cloudflare, this type of network is ideal for use for entertainment services, online shopping, on-demand services and high-availability corporate applications and systems.
This is because it makes it possible to place copies of web content or facilitate access (delivery) of dynamic content closer to end users (e.g. HTML pages, live video streams, JavaScript files, images and videos, among others).
How do CDNs work? – A graphical look
To get a better idea of how CDNs work, we can take a look at the image showing what a CDN implementation is and what it is not:
CDN – How is it done?
Generally, each CDN server is deployed closer to the users than the main host server, where the website originates, often referred to as “edge servers”.
This corresponds to each CDN server serving that function and location, being as far away from the host as possible and as close as possible to the client within the distributed network.
The specific server (each CDN server) contains in its cache copies of a subset of the web content of the main server (host).
The CDN thus helps publishers and website managers to optimize their performance, reduce load time for users and control their own bandwidth consumption and costs, a performance that is enabled by reducing the distance between this content and the end users.
More on cloud configurations: Here are the advantages of a native approach to IT infrastructure.
Why consider a CDN?
These are some of the benefits of CDN implementations for any type of company that wants to optimize its digital presence:
Bandwidth savings
Content delivery networks or content networks provide the solution for the delivery of a wide variety of web architectures, a key factor for companies to adopt a CDN is bandwidth savings and utilization.
A boon for all enterprises that need to enable or be prepared to run video formats on their network infrastructure and to support the intense demand for multimedia applications.
This is why it is claimed that CDN technology will be a key factor in Internet business, including Web services and e-commerce.
Distribution of heavy content and applications with minimum latency
The CDN allows any web content to be distributed around the world with minimal latency, allowing users, depending on their location, to access a server that is as close as possible.
They do this by shortening the distance to the information, this would mean that the download time would obviously be shorter and optimized to the end user’s need.
Better management costs
There is a consensus among network managers who have implemented a CDN in their network infrastructure that they have reduced costs and bandwidth concerns, as well as reduced infrastructure maintenance costs.
Improved user experience
The most important thing is that they were able to make the user experience when browsing the sites looking for and obtaining information content, the best experience for the users, that is, they could upload, download, consult information in an agile and fast way, without congestions, short response times, etc.
This is what a company is looking for in a content delivery network solution, and these are part of the CDN benefits that should be provided, these are the real expectations and the expected performance that is desired after its implementation.
An enabling infrastructure for new launches
CDNs are useful not only to increase the performance of IP content delivery over the Internet and corporate intranets/extranets, but are also used to provide new services simultaneously.
What started as a performance improvement in content delivery using local information access mechanisms has grown to offer opportunities to deliver a range of new services not only locally but also globally without geographical restrictions.
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The importance of a Content Delivery/Distribution Network CDN
The importance of a CDN, as mentioned by AWS, lies in the fact that its fundamental objective is to send (push) the information as close as possible to the users in order to minimize the latency or response time to a request.
In addition, a CDN implementation allows to eliminate the “Jitter”, unpredictable and that is the variations in response time, and finally, to maximize the availability of bandwidth.
This is known as moving the content to the edge or border, being one of the benefits of CDN.
Moving content to the edge avoids bottlenecks; for example, when thousands of users want to access real-time streaming applications at the same time, WAN links can become saturated, saturating servers, thus degrading response times and the correct functioning and performance of applications.
This can be more severe when user requests have to make many hops or cross many networks in order to access information, causing high latency and degraded service to users.
The CDN configuration allows users to upload, download and consult information in a much faster and more efficient way, since the information border or repository is as close as possible to the end user.
Some benefits of CDN for online sites and deployments
Among the benefits of CDN, as a differentiating configuration, we can mention:
- Solves the video-on-demand (VoD) problem.
- Reduces bandwidth congestion on corporate WAN links.
- Cost reduction in hiring dedicated links.
- Shorten data retrieval times at any point of your branches.
- Reduced information server costs.
- Reduces latency in the access to information.
- Optimization of the bandwidth of your local network (LAN), Internet and corporate WAN links (Wide Area Network).
- Provide your company’s content to your customers and internally in a fast, secure and cost-effective way.
- Convert content to digital format.
- Minimizes costs for business events (e.g., video on demand can be made for the promotion of a product to all branches without having to go to the central office).
- Provides greater geographic coverage (content reaches remote locations in a very short time).
CDN importance and benefits for your online business – Conclusion
CDNs help companies take advantage of the different types of content provided to users, including streaming media and dynamic content delivery, creating ways to differentiate themselves from the competition.
In addition, content networks can maintain high performance and short response time for multiple users accessing the information contained on the servers at the same time, without affecting the service or the applications that are currently running simultaneously.
Companies also have to meet, as quickly as possible, the demands of information content requested by users, to adapt and transform their responses through CDN implementation solutions.
For companies, it is critical to always have information available to their customers or users, and content networks are the most viable and cost-effective solution to solve this problem, due to all the benefits and applications that can be achieved and developed.
With NULogic, companies can count on the best Content Delivery Network (CDN) Service solution, all thanks to our alliances with the best CDN providers, and the highest quality standards in the IT industry for the benefit of your digital business or eCommerce.