Content Delivery Network whose function is to keep the website stable and active, even if there are problems or disturbances that arise. Usually, it is the developers or website managers who deal with the CDN a lot.
One of the functions of a content delivery network or CDN is to speed up website loading so that the delivery of static content such as images, videos, etc. from the server to website users is smoother.
Generally, large-scale websites with a lot of content use a CDN, because the large volume of content can hinder user interaction with the website.
So, What is a Content Delivery Network?
Content Delivery Network is a global collection of servers located in several data centers in various parts of the world. This global network is in charge of sending content from the server to a website. CDN plays a very important role in accelerating the delivery of website content where servers and visitors are located far apart.
How does Content Delivery Network Work?
One of the most common uses of a CDN is to increase the load time of a page. Let’s use e-commerce as an example to understand how CDNs help improve page load times.
Suppose you have an attractive e-commerce website and have a server in Jakarta. All files needed by your website are stored on the server. So, when visitors access your website, everything that is loaded on your website comes from this server in Jakarta.
Now there are website visitors from Singapore trying to access it. Any content or resources of the website such as javascript files, stylesheets, images, and others, are requested from the website visitor’s device to your server. In these two locations, visitors in Singapore from servers in Jakarta have a distance of more than 900KM. Because, of the long distance, the website resources are responsible for the loading speed of a website.
CDN is a network of servers linked together for the purpose of delivering content cheaply, quickly, securely, and reliably, using cache technology. Websites that use a CDN will use the name server provided by the CDN.
On the first visit, the visitor requests access to a website. The CDN then downloads static content such as JavaScript, CSS, and images to the server and then sends it to visitors via the browser.
On the second visit, the visitor retrieves the content that has been cached by the CDN. That way, hosting only needs to complete the content. Delivery time is also faster because file retrieval is done from the server closest to the visitor.
Function
This CDN function is perfect for those of you who want:
- Have a website that can be opened from any country very quickly.
- A website with visitors from different countries around the world.
- Despite the limitations of hosting providers, build a web with minimal resource consumption non-stop.
- This CDN service is useful for corporate websites or personal websites that want website content, file downloads, and streaming to run smoother and faster.
- For you SEO or search engine optimization activists. Where a different IP address from the website is required to create a PBN (Private Blogging Network).
A CDN service can sync your website and place it on all CDN servers around the world.
So, if you open a website from America, you don’t need to request it directly from an American server, because a copy of your website data is already in Singapore, you will be automatically forwarded to the next CDN branch in Singapore.
How does a CDN Increase the Load Time of a Page?
Instead of sending your website resources directly from the website’s main server, you send website resources to visitors via PoP. So, when there are website visitors from Singapore, even though your server is in Jakarta, visitors will get website resources from the nearest CDN server from Singapore or the visitor’s location. This will obviously cut the page load time significantly.
Benefits of Using a Content Delivery Network
Content Delivery Network or CDN is the right solution for a large website with visitors from all over the world. So what are the benefits of using a CDN for large websites?
- Streamlining Visitor Access
Large-scale websites and global audiences such as news portals and online magazines must have a lot of assets such as images, videos, thumbnails, and so on. Without a CDN, the amount of content available will affect the website’s response time to visitor requests.
- Improve User Experience
By using a CDN to help the process of transferring content between the server and the user, the response time on your website will be faster. The result, of course, is a better user experience.
- Speed up Loading Time
Using a Content Delivery Network can also speed up loading times on your website. Placing a CDN in a location closest to visitors will increase load time because data transfer does not need to go through multiple routing servers.
- Improve Website Position in Search Engines
Indirectly, the use of a CDN can help increase the position of your website on search engines. This is because search engines use a website’s load time as a factor to determine the ranking of the website.
- Minimizing the Risk of Traffic Spike
Traffic Spike is a term for a spike in website visitors that causes visitors to not be able to visit the website. The use of a CDN can prevent traffic spikes by sharing visitor access to the server location closest to them.
- Preventing DDoS Attacks
Basically, DDoS can only attack one server location, so by spreading your content to various locations, the risk of a DDoS attack on your website will decrease drastically.
How to Use Content Delivery Network
The most importantly, you should consider this decision carefully, because implementing a CDN can be time-consuming and costly.
- Select CDN and Register Website
Many technology companies that provide CDN to the public, such as Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud, Akamai AWS CloudFront, MaxCDN, and many others
- Generate URL for CDN
The next step is to create a URL for your CDN. The URL for the CDN is the place where all your assets will drive traffic. Use URL names that are easy to find and replace to make changing the process easier if needed.
- Point Assets to CDN
Another task you will need to perform is to point the assets on your website to the CDN after generating the URL. This will reduce the chances of you making mistakes in your markup and make it easier to maintain URLs if you need to make changes.