CDN stands for ‘Content Delivery Network’, it is a method of distributing data across several servers for faster access to the end user. Servers are located geographically, the closer a server is to an end user, the quicker the speeds.

Content is dispersed and replicated on servers, this is called content replication, it’s a form of backing up data and dispersing number of requests from users. Large number of requests for content can be a drain on a server causing it to slow down, but strategically placing servers around the globe with content replication can reduce wait times and handle large demands.

How does it work?

CDNs counter balance server load – if a server is overburdened by many user requests then a CDN can distribute the content between several servers which will increase traffic speeds. Users don’t notice it in action as it is all handled in the backend.

Instead of users requesting content from far away servers they contact the nearest server which means faster speeds when grabbing content.

Servers are limited to how many concurrent users they can handle at any one time, if a blog or ecommerce site needs a high amount of traffic a CDN can balance the load and make sure blog posts can be accessed and sales can be made.

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