{"id":25415,"date":"2020-05-26T08:12:00","date_gmt":"2020-05-26T13:12:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/?p=25415"},"modified":"2020-05-18T16:10:29","modified_gmt":"2020-05-18T21:10:29","slug":"what-is-content-delivery-network","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/what-is-content-delivery-network\/","title":{"rendered":"What Is a Content Delivery Network (CDN)?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

You\u2019ve heard the classic tale of the tortoise and the hare and their illustrious race, right? If not, spoiler alert! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the end, the tortoise\u2019s slow and steady pace wins the race. And, the hare is left feeling foolish for running most of the race fast as can be, and then piddling around while the tortoise crosses the finish line.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While this is a great anecdote to motivate people to take one step at a time toward their weight loss or career goals, it\u2019s not a great anecdote for how users want the internet to run.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No one wants to sit around and wait for days for a website to load, even if it is making that tortoise-like slowwwww as tar<\/em> progress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cue throbber icon followed by a frustrated yell into a pillow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"website<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

When people search for your website on the internet, they want sprint of the hare website speed<\/a>. In fact, 47% of consumers<\/a> expect a web page to load in two seconds or less, and 40% of consumers will wait no more than three seconds for a web page to render before abandoning the site.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, what does this reworked fable have to do with the question you Googled? Google search:<\/strong> What is a content delivery network?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"hare\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Content delivery networks (CDN) <\/strong>are the hares of the internet (but they are 100 percent reliable when it comes to finishing the race, as opposed to the hare in Aesop\u2019s fable, just to get that out of the way). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In more technical terms, a CDN is a group of servers that reduce website latency time and provides speedy delivery of internet content.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"best<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

How Does a Content Delivery Network (CDN) Work?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The more you want your website to do, the more power it will need to load quickly. Think about some of the world\u2019s favorite websites: Netflix, Facebook, and Amazon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All of these industry giants use a CDN to speed things up. These websites have billions of daily searches and a lot going on behind the scenes to make their websites the obsessions that they are, and that means they need more power and speed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A CDN works by placing servers at exchange points (IXPs) between different networks, offering an opportunity for different internet provides to link to each other and give each other access to resources on their respective networks. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Additionally, a CDN places physical servers in data centers<\/a> across the globe to help move traffic as quickly as possible. These CDNs provide speed and connectivity securely, cheaply, and reliably (again, a better hare than the one in Aesop\u2019s fable). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

With the help of a CDN, these top websites can deliver content effectively and quickly, no matter what browser they are using, what internet service provider they use, and regardless of where they are located.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Can Smaller Website Benefit from Using a CDN?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s a given that huge companies like Facebook will use a CDN, but what about smaller websites? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Do you really need to invest in a CDN? Well, it depends on how much you are doing on your website, and what your current website load times are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you use assets like HTML pages, javascript files, stylesheets, images, and videos, then you\u2019re asking your website to do a lot of hard work, and it may need additional help.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 If you use all these assets and notice your website isn\u2019t loading quickly, then a CDN is an easy and affordable answer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What Are the Top Benefits of a CDN?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s already been stated that main benefit of CDN services is they help with latency and improves website load times. But, how?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here are some primary ways CDN services reduce load times:<\/p>\n\n\n\n