A cdn network is an infrastructure of distributed servers that helps websites deliver content faster. Among other benefits, it reduces the load on origin servers and allows websites to maintain high performance even with heavy traffic or hardware failure.
Faster Load Times – By distributing content closer to users, CDNs improve page load speed and increase the time users spend on the site. This is especially useful for ecommerce sites, which experience high bounce rates and lower conversion rates when pages load slowly.
Higher Security – A CDN isolates and protects against malicious traffic, including bots, spammers, and hackers. It also prevents attacks from taking down your website’s most vulnerable files.
The security of your website is important for the security of your visitors and their data, which is why CDNs are a must-have for any business that wants to stay online. The best CDNs use a combination of firewall and malware protection features to ensure your data is protected against cyber-attacks, while also offering a high level of uptime.
Optimized Connections – A CDN network terminates new connections as close to a user as possible, which minimizes connection setup costs. It also uses pre-warmed connections, which shorten the duration of data transfer from the origin server.
TLS 1.3 Shortens TLS handshake from two rounds to one, which can reduce connection setup time by up to 33%. It is important to enable this feature on your site, as it can significantly speed up connections.
Caching Resources – A CDN caches resources such as images, video, CSS stylesheets, and JavaScript files in order to deliver them faster to users. This is especially useful for content that does not change for each user – such as an image that stays the same size, or a JavaScript or CSS file that doesn’t affect how the website looks.
CDNs are typically configured with a global caching policy to ensure that all resources are cached by the service, regardless of their location on the network. This allows the CDN to populate caches as they become available, and to purge them when no longer needed.
In addition, some CDNs offer a tiered approach to caching, which increases the chances of resources being served from an edge cache by supplementing it with central PoPs that have a higher cache hit ratio.
Static Content – The majority of CDNs serve static content (images, videos, and CSS stylesheets) from their own servers to users. This saves server resources that would otherwise be used to serve dynamic content, which can help increase site performance and thereby boost site visitors’ engagement.
Choosing the Right CDN – There are many different options to choose from, but it is important to choose one that provides a robust and high-performing solution to meet your needs. In addition, you should ensure that the service is supported on any devices your users may be accessing the site from.
You should look for a CDN service that is optimized for high-volume, high-traffic websites and offers an integrated web application firewall to keep your business safe from attacks. In addition, you should make sure that the service is capable of protecting your site against DDoS attacks, which can cause major damage to your website’s performance and reputation.