A Content Delivery Network (CDN) is a distributed network of servers that delivers web content to users based on their geographic location. CDNs reduce latency, improve reliability, and protect against traffic spikes and DDoS attacks.
A CDN caches static content (images, CSS, JavaScript, videos) on servers around the world, called points of presence (PoPs). When a user requests content, the CDN serves it from the nearest PoP instead of the origin server. This dramatically reduces latency — from hundreds of milliseconds to just a few.
When a user visits your website, DNS resolves to the CDN's closest PoP. If the content is cached at that PoP, it is served directly. If not, the PoP fetches it from the origin server, caches it, and serves it to the user. Subsequent requests from the same region are served from the cache. CDNs also optimize TLS termination, HTTP/2 support, and image optimization.
Yes. A CDN reduces latency by serving content from geographically closer servers. It also improves cache hit rates for static assets, reducing origin server load. Most websites see 40-60% improvement in page load times.
No. Even small websites benefit from CDNs. Free CDN options include Cloudflare (free plan) and BunnyCDN. CDNs also provide free SSL, DDoS protection, and traffic analytics.