A CDN is a network of servers (edges) located in different parts of the world, which store cached information from the main (original) server. In this explanation, we will explain how CDN global works in practice.
Which Well-Known Companies Use CDNs?
The content delivery network is needed in two cases. First, if the company has an extremely large number of visitors in its region and the origin server is at risk of being overloaded. Second, if the company has customers on different continents and countries. For example, Facebook and Amazon use CDNs. But this technology is useful not only for giants like marketplaces or social networks but also for any international business.
An Example of How a CDN Works
Let’s imagine that you are a Canadian company that produces parkas. Your potential customers live not only in Canada but also in the United States, Iceland, Finland, Japan, etc.
You have a great website with photos and crash test videos of your parkas, and it’s located on a server in Canada. This means that there are about 4,000 miles between your server and your customers in, let’s say, Finland. When a visitor from there tries to load your site, he or she will go directly to the original server. Due to distance (as one of the factors), it will take a long time to load. People usually wait no more than 5 seconds before closing a website. You can lose the client.
With CDN, the site would load faster. You place cached versions of your website on servers near the places where your target audience lives. In this case, a potential client from Finland will access the local server, not the Canadian one. Visitors on the other side of the world can browse your site easily and quickly.
How to Set Up a CDN?
To create a CDN, you need the services of a provider, such as G-Core Labs. Depending on the peculiarities of your business, the provider offers servers on which you can host the cached version of your website. The price of the tariff plan depends on the traffic, the number of requests, the type of DDoS Protection, etc. G-Core Labs has tariff plans for both small and large businesses. Free trial periods are included.
