It is very important to have an idea about the answer to the question “What is CDN?” in order to ensure that the content reaches the users in the fastest way possible. The fact that users want to access content quickly can cause sites that provide slow content to fail. Therefore, increasing website speeds by using CDN is extremely important to improve user experience. So, what is CDN and how does CDN work?
How does CDN Work?
CDN, known as Content Delivery Network, is a concept translated into Turkish as İçerik Dağıtım Ağı. CDN is a geographically distributed network of servers that enables fast and reliable delivery of content on the internet to users. CDNs, also defined as a global server community, also have the task of protecting websites against DDoS or DDoS-like malicious attacks.
The answer to the question “What is a CDN?” can be given in another definition as follows: A CDN is one of the most important tools to improve the user experience by reducing the loading time of web pages, videos and other digital content. CDNs optimize internet traffic by ensuring that content is served from the server closest to users. This helps lighten the load on servers.
Sites using a CDN cache content and store it on geographically distributed servers. When users want to access websites, the CDN locates the server closest to the user’s location and fetches the content from that server. This reduces network congestion and speeds up data transmission. For example, when users in Germany want to see content on servers in Turkey, the speed may be slow. But when this is done through CDN, the user in Germany receives this content from servers in Germany.
What Kind of Sites is CDN Used for?
The main areas where CDNs, which provide efficient, fast, reliable distribution of content on the Internet, improve the user experience are as follows:
- Ensures that high quality video or audio streams continue uninterrupted.
- Enables fast downloading of large software updates or game files.
- Large-scale e-commerce sites increase customer satisfaction and positively affect sales by ensuring fast loading of product images or pages.
CDN, which significantly reduces content loading times in all these areas, brings many advantages for SEO efforts. Let’s take a closer look at the advantages of using CDN after the question “What is CDN?”.
What are the Advantages of Using CDN?
Using a CDN provides significant advantages such as speed, performance, increased reliability, cost savings, and resilience against cyber-attacks. Being able to fully answer the question “What is CDN?” and having the competencies to benefit from all these advantages can bring serious success, especially in SEO efforts. The prominent advantages of using CDN for internet content are as follows:
Faster Content Access
One of the first answers to the question “What is a CDN?” is that it is a tool that increases website speed and improves performance. In almost all of the sites using CDN, a 50 percent reduction in the loading time of the content has been observed. In some sites, this reduction is even much better than 50 percent. One of the main reasons for this is the shortening of the distance between the server where the content is stored and the location where it needs to go.
A CDN can reduce file sizes to increase loading speed. They can also optimize their server infrastructure to respond to user responses in the best possible way. In addition, the process of optimizing server infrastructures in CDN services should definitely be carried out by professionals who have a clear understanding of the answer to the question “What is CDN?”.
Increases Web Site Performance
Problems such as internet outages, server crashes, network congestion or disconnections can occur at any time. However, these problems that worsen the user experience can be eliminated by using CDN. Because a CDN can help provide uninterrupted service even when such problems occur.
CDNs, which are extremely successful in relieving the burden of network traffic, allow servers to run more comfortably. For instance, if a server stops working, the CDN can act as a backup server. Consisting of many servers spread across many different locations, CDNs are a great saviors when a backup is needed. Performance enhancement is among the most important answers to the question “What is CDN?”.
Reduces Cost Savings by Reducing Main Server Load
Websites that reduce the data transfer back and forth between the source server can reduce costs. This is because the content on the website is cached by the CDN. The content therefore does not need to be served over and over again. As a matter of fact, every data going from web servers to websites and from websites to users is subject to certain fees. This is called bandwidth cost.
Storing the content of the website on CDN servers as a strategic move ensures that less data is extracted from the source server and therefore less data is transferred. This significantly reduces bandwidth costs.
Manages Traffic Density
A significant increase in website traffic occurs especially on special discount days such as Black Friday organized by e-Commerce sites. During these periods, much higher levels of user traffic than normal can cause websites to slow down significantly and sometimes even crash. CDN services come into play during such periods, allowing traffic to be shared between different servers, thus balancing the load distribution. The fact that a single server is not overloaded can eliminate the potential problems that users may experience due to slow loading problems.
All these advantages of CDN are adequate to answer the question “What is CDN?”. At Sentilyon Blog, we try to answer all curious questions such as “What is CDN?”. If you are curious about SWOT analysis, you can read our article “SWOT Analysis in SEO Studies”.
What are the Types Of Files a CDN can Host?
Up to this point, we have tried to answer the question “What is a CDN?” However, the types of files hosted by the CDN are as important as the answer to the question “What is a CDN?”. CDNs can host various types of digital content. The list of file types that a CDN can host is as follows:
Visual and Video Files
CDNs support visual formats such as JPEG, PNG, GIF, SVG and video formats such as MP4 and AVI. It enables both websites and applications to load faster and helps product images open faster on e-Commerce sites. It speeds up the loading of high-resolution images, especially on news or media sites.
Html, Css and Js Files
Serving HTML, CSS and JS files, which are the basic components of web pages, over CDN can also help improve site performance. Thanks to the fast loading of CSS files, users can view websites instantly. In addition, JavaScript libraries can be provided via CDN to achieve faster loading times.
Downloadable Media Files
Files such as PDF, MP3, ZIP, EXE can be served via CDN to enable users to download files faster. EBooks, podcasts or music files can also be distributed quickly.
Live Broadcast and Video Stream Content
Live broadcast or video streams can be streamed with low latency. In addition, streaming technologies such as HLS or MPEG-DASH increase the efficiency of media presentations. The CDN is therefore ideal for online education platforms, live concerts or sporting events.
Software and Game Updates
Updates of large-scale games or software can be delivered to users quickly and smoothly. Platforms such as Steam, PlayStation or Xbox Live can distribute game updates quickly thanks to CDN.
Codefiles and Api Resources
Files such as JavaScript, Python, JSON or XML, which are frequently used by developers, can be stored in the CDN. Web services or APIs can serve their users with lower latency.
Font and Text Files
All custom text files can be stored on the CDN to help websites load faster. It is also possible to store text content or data files on a CDN.
Top 5 CDN Services
Using the right CDN application to increase site speed by reducing loading times is also very important to improve user experience. There are some free CDN services you can use on your websites. However, if you want to use more advanced features, it is worth switching to paid CDN services. Of course, some of these stand out. If you are looking for a CDN for SEO, you can take advantage of the following services.
Cloudflare
Cloudflare, one of the most widely used CDN providers in the world, has a powerful and secure infrastructure. In fact, it is one of the first services that comes to mind when asked “What is CDN?”. Offering more than 200 data centers and impressive global coverage, Cloudflare is also effective in protecting websites against online threats. In addition, if you use your website on WordPress, Cloudflare CDN installation can be easily realized.
One of the most advantageous aspects of Cloudflare is the ability to utilize comprehensive analytics and reporting tools to monitor website performance and traffic. The service’s user-friendly interface can be used without technical expertise. It is also suitable for use on mobile devices.
Keycdn
KeyCDN, the second application that comes to mind when asking “What is a CDN?”, is a Content Delivery Network CDN provider that puts both speed and security at the center. This content delivery network has more than 50 data centers. One of the most important features of this provider is its ability to process images in real time. This is an extra advantage for websites with a lot of visual content.
It is possible to quickly integrate KeyCDN with WordPress to improve site performance. Traffic or performance measurements can be made. In addition, data security can be increased thanks to free SSL certificates.
Google Cloud Cdn
Google Cloud CDN, a powerful content delivery network CDN service, stands out with its low transfer time and high transfer speed. The main advantage of this service is that it can integrate with other Google Cloud services. In addition, Google’s powerful infrastructure offers extra reliability. In addition, the presence of a large number of data centers helps it work efficiently around the world.
Amazon Cloudfront
Amazon CloudFront, an Amazon Web Services (AWS) service, is the second fastest website CDN service worldwide. Ranked first in Europe, this CDN service works integrated with other AWS services. It is among the most versatile CDN services as it supports different types of content on the internet.
Microsoft Azure Cdn
This tool is integrated with other Azure services and offers users high efficiency when downloading or streaming content. It also includes DDoS protection. It is ideal for websites with high traffic or large media files. If you are considering other CDN services, you can also evaluate products such as CDN77, Fastly, Gcore, Akamai Ion, and Bunny.
The answer to the question “What is a CDN?” is related to SEO, and cannot be considered independent of it. CDN is one of the key points for successful SEO efforts. If you want a CDN service or to strengthen your SEO efforts with professional support, contact us now.
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