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There’s hardly an area in our lives today that is not touched by the internet. Whether it is getting help on study assignments, finding the nearest restaurant to dine at, booking tickets, learning something new about the world- we do it all these days with the internet. Content delivery networks help to bring information to our devices by distributing this information.
The information can come to us as a download, namely documents, different types of media and software, or through portals and e-commerce sites. Along with all this also appear the exciting world of social media, live and on-demand streaming.
How CDN works
The first step that takes place is a decision. A media company or a business owner decides to go online to make sure their content reaches as many people as possible. They need someone to do it for them. This is where the CDN operators come into the picture. Once they’ve understood what their clients need, they in turn, turn to other operators- namely, network, ISP and carrier operators to host their client’s servers in data centers.
So when you are browsing at your favorite music site, or thinking about what you need to buy, CDN runs over to the server nearest to you to give you the static information that shows up on the website. It does it so fast and so efficiently that you don’t even realize what’s happened. All you experience is a smooth, seamless and swift time.
CDN harnesses the power of a network with servers and centers. Through these, information is distributed and delivered in a ready and reliable method to users at the end of the process. All sorts of content delivery services come under this broad term. We’ve already seen some in the previous paragraph. Apart from those, cloud intelligence, mobile and web content acceleration, the measurement, license and management of CDN and load balancing also come under its ambit. It also happens that a vendor and a CDN reseller could move from all this to security and WAN optimization.
Like with everything, CDN also comes with its own disadvantages and advantages.
Disadvantages
- Security
Because of the nature of the CDN, the information you park in it is distributed across several servers. This can prove to be a security concern.
- Restricted application development
Since most of the data on the network is static- albeit updated- any change or development in application can be a challenge.
- Expensive
CDN doesn’t come cheap and while the price may seem affordable, compare it to your regular internet plan and you’ll see that it’s actually not.
Advantages
- Reduced bandwidth usage
Static content delivered to you means lower bandwidth requirement and use.
- More visibility
Because your content gets sent to servers that are scattered, it means that your content enjoys high visibility.
- Boon for content-rich pages
If your site has videos and pictures, then CDN reduces the load on it and increases speed.
- SEO advantages
When it comes to pushing your business ahead, SEO strategies have many advantages. CDN is a great way to move SEO along. It does so by reducing the traffic on the site, encouraging visitors to stay on the page longer.
CDN makes your internet use comfortable and quick.
