Content Delivery Network: What it is and what to take into consideration
The CDN - Content Delivery Network which in a literal translation means Content Distribution Network is increasingly used by administrators and programmers.
This is because the CDN is able to provide a better user experience, through a group of servers that allow online content to be available, quickly and securely.
If you don't understand this term well today we will explain you what it is and what the advantages of the Content Delivery Network are.
Content Delivery Network: Everything you need to know
Basically, the main function of the CDN is to play back the content that is stored on the central server. The reproduced version of the content will then be saved at various locations on the planet. These locations are called Points of Presence.
These points, in turn, are the places where more than two networks connect with themselves.
Imagine the following: whenever a user tries to access a website, the computer sends a request to access the content to the central server. This server then responds to the request and displays the content.
What will determine the speed of that response is the distance between the user and the central server. That is, if you are in Lisbon and the central server of the site is from São Paulo, for example, the response time will be longer.
The job of the Content Delivery Network is to "bridge" this gap. This is because instead of sending the request to the central server, visitors receive a copy of the data, of contents already stored, from the nearest server.
For this the CDN uses a mapping system capable of analyzing the location of the user and the server. This makes the speed of content delivery much faster and thus improves the experience of those who visit the site.
If for some reason the nearest server is not able to deliver the content to the visitor, it will then look for other servers.
In addition, in case data does not exist or is not stored correctly, the nearest server will contact the central server to provide such content. And then it will store it to respond to future requests.
All this is possible because a CDN has data centers located all over the world. So Points of Presence consist of a set of hundreds of servers that work to deliver the content in the shortest time possible.
4 reasons to use the CDN on your website
Now that you can better understand how the Content Delivery Network works, it's time to know some advantages of using this system on your website. Keep up.
1 - Performance improvement
It was possible to understand why sites that use the CDN provide a better browsing experience for users. And, this is only possible due to the improved performance of the site.
Using the Content Delivery Network will ensure more speed in loading and reduce latency. That is, the delay in the time it takes for a request to be transferred from one point to another.
2 - SEO Improvement
When we talk about Search Engine Optimization (SEO) the speed of the page is a very important factor for the positioning of your page in organic results.
Most search engines consider the loading time of the page for its positioning.
With the increased loading speed provided by the CDN the site will have more possibilities to appear in prominent positions. And thus have greater visibility on the part of consumers and consequently obtain more access.
3 - Ease of integration
In the vast majority of cases the CDN can be set up for any website in a few minutes.
In addition, there are numerous possibilities for integration with widely used applications such as WordPress, Joomla and Magento for example.
4 - Great cost - benefit
Counting on the CDN makes it possible to adjust the hosting costs according to the need.
This will not require high values to have an efficient service that you can optimize. Besides, you won't need to create an infrastructure, since it's the CDN server itself that does this.
Investing in the Content Delivery Network is essential for those who want to improve their website and ensure many accesses, providing more quality to the consumer. And, this will certainly bring a positive return to your business.