CDN Stands for content delivery network/content distribution network. It is a globally distributed network of web servers, providing faster content delivery.
CDN provider stores data instances on the servers located at different geo-locations. This helps the users access data from the nearest server. This improves data loading speed and provides a good user experience. Farther the location of the CDN server, longer it will take the content to reach the user.
Website owners pay CDN companies to deliver content to their audiences. CDN providers pay carrier network operators to host servers in their data centers.
Content Delivery Netwoek service providers have POPs that are the caching servers interacting with nearby users. These servers store and deliver cached content data. These servers are powered by powerful SSD/HDD + RAM.
CDN servers convert dynamic web pages of your resources into static content and store them in their database.
There are two techniques used by CDN to distribute static files into the edge servers
Pull Technique: This technique pulls static assets from your site automatically to CDN cache. It is good for smaller sites.
Push Technique: This technique doesn’t import files automatically. Your site has to upload them to the CDN. Once the files are pushed, zone node syncs with the network edge servers. This is suitable if the content on your site doesn’t change frequently.
Major benefits with CDN.
- It helps with reduced bandwidth cost
- Improved page load speed
- Increase in the global availability of content
- Better SERP positions for the website
- Higher conversion rate
For every 2 seconds of delay in page loading, cart abandonment rate gets double.
53% of mobile users won’t make the sale if the page load time is more than 3 seconds.
28% of the users won’t return to a web page if they find it to be slow.
As per industry experts, web page loading time between 1.8 to 2.7 seconds is most optimal.
CDN latency: Time it takes individual bytes of data to travel from the server of origin to the end-user. Mobile content delivery must have low latency for optimal performance.
The performance of CDN depends on, availability, and data security.
Benefits of using Content Delivery Network:
1) Content Accessibility. CDN makes your website and mobile app fast making it user friendly.
2) It provides scattered presence around the globe. It is beneficial for websites having users spread all around the globe.
3) Automatic data analytics: CDN charges users as per data volume delivered. Most of the service providers charge per GB of the data delivered. Users get advanced data such as search queries, time of the search, location, device, etc. This helps plan the content and marketing strategy.
4) Low or No Network congestion. Websites powered by CDN are fast and face minimal network congestion. Data delivery is quick and seamless for visitors.
5) Increased reliability and trustworthiness:
6) Protection against DDoS attacks.
7) Lower overhead cost. CDN providers have several delivery nodes helping you cater content to your audiences
Factors to keep in mind while selecting the CDN for your website.
The best CDN for you depends on your usage.
1) Check your requirements
2) What type of site do you have? E.g. an e-commerce website with hundreds of products would require more bandwidth and storage as compared to a normal blogging website.
3) Where are your users located? CDN providers should have points of presence in those areas. Their server should be capable enough to handle the traffic. Service provider should have the collaboration with local ISPs and last-mile networks to provide maximum uptime e.g if you have an e-commerce website catering to the users in the USA and UK. So, you should opt for a brand which has got the maximum number of servers in these two geo-locations. You shouldn’t be interested in CDN providing services in Australia and NewZealand.
4) Type of media you serve: Again a major parameter to consider while choosing a CDN service is their support to the media type you are going to serve. If you have a video curation website or say, you sell online video courses, you should opt for the CDN which can support the bandwidth requirements. A content-based website will have limited requirements compared to a video streaming website.
5) The budget plays a crucial role in deciding the best CDN service for your website.
6) Speed and Reliability: These parameters differentiate a good CDN provider from the normal ones. For a good CDN, the response time should be minimal. It is the time it takes the server to answer a browser’s request.
CDN latency should be minimal: It is the time it takes individual bytes of data to travel from the server of origin to the end-user. Mobile content delivery must have low latency for optimal performance. Factors affecting latency are the transmission mediums, propagation time, router hop delays, and storage delays.
Another factor is how steadily and efficiently the content is delivered. CDN with Max uptime should be the first choice.
Before finalizing one, take a free trial and check the speed of the website. The main assets in a website which needs to speed up are images. 64% of the average bytes per page are made up of images.
7) Security: For every online business where users’ data is involved, a security breach can shut down the business in a day. Bigger brands such as Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook have faced embarrassment due to data theft or spam attacks. The CDN you have selected should have data encryption and DDoS protection.
8) Number of POPs: For the CDN you are shortlisting, make sure it has got a sufficient number of servers or points of presence in your target geo-locations. If one POP( Edge server) goes down, it simply routes the request to the next nearest edge server.
9) Multi CDN solution: Suppose you have a shortlisted a CDN which is within your budget, but they have limited POPs in your service areas. So, better you ask them if they have collaboration with other CDN providers. Some top providers share servers and network parts to give a better service to the customers.
10) Platform integration: If you have found a CDN which meets your requirements regarding speed and the budget. But if it doesn’t provide easy integration with your website, then you should reconsider your decision. Integrating a CDN to your website can be a daunting task if there are no clear guidelines and integration available. You would require technical expertise. Most of the service providers provide initial support for integration and setup. But managing a one that doesn’t have a direct integration with your website may cause problems.
11) Cache Policy: The way these servers manage your data cache is very important. Here are the 3 main cache policies used:
a) Replication of all content: This is most effective but at the same time expensive.
b) Replication on the first request: In this, the data transmission during the first request is slow. Once the cache has been stored, data transfer gets faster.
c) Asynchronous replication by exceeding a certain threshold of requests. This is the most economical but is slow.
12) Retention Policy: This is again a very important factor while deciding the CDN service provider. Retention policy impacts how the object is removed from the POP server.
Object Removed by timeout
Removal by the number of request below a certain value
Automatic removal at a fixed time.
13) Extra services along with the data delivery: Some top brands make valuable information available to the customers that help them make vital decisions. This includes real-time information on POPs downtime, managing cache policy, traffic analytics, and CMS integrations.
So, before selecting a (CDN)Content Delivery Network for your online business, make sure you do thorough research. That will help you provide the best user experience to your website visitors.
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