More than 3 billion people use the internet and it is getting more every day. Thanks to modern technologies, most websites are now very elaborately designed. However, the visitors of a website do not only want to be entertained in an appealing way. They also expect short or hardly noticeable loading times and want to surf without interruptions. However, a large number of images, animations and videos have a negative effect on the loading time of the respective website. website off. This creates several problems for the operators and the visitors. A large part of these problems is solved by the content delivery network.
Sense and purpose of the CDN
More and more people are using the Internet and international traffic is growing every day. The size and quantity of online content is also increasing more and more. The classic methods of data delivery, above all the proven server-client principle, are increasingly reaching their limits. Traditional technologies are not only expensive and ineffective. They can no longer deliver big data fast enough or, in the worst case, not at all. Nearly half of global data traffic is caused by peer-to-peer video sharing, according to estimates by major Internet service providers. For website operators, and especially for businesses, slow load times are a major problem. Visitors and potential customers are put off by these and in the worst case leave the website or online shop straight away. Due to the huge distances between the websites and their visitors, the content is not always transmitted fast enough over the internet. In order to provide the users with an optimal visit, the web content must be retrievable without long loading times. Based on this well-known problem, the CDN was developed.
Simply put, the Content Delivery Network, or CDN for short, is a modern and effective Internet accelerator. In detail, the network consists of several locally distributed servers. There is a so-called origin server and several cache servers. The servers are connected to each other via the Internet and reduce the distance between websites and their visitors. Web content, including mainly larger multimedia files, is transferred via the CDN. The growing dynamic Internet traffic can thus be better distributed. Due to the global content delivery network, the content is kept close to the user and this has a positive effect on the loading times. The content delivery network is usually offered by an Internet Service Provider (ISP). These cooperate with the hosting providers who host the websites of medium and large companies. host. In addition, the Internet service provider also offers the CDN directly to special customers. These include major customers such as news broadcasters and media companies.
The main components of the CDN
In simple terms, the content delivery network has an origin server, various cache servers (also called replica servers) and a distribution system (request routing system). The servers are located in different countries around the world. The origin server plays a central role. On this server, the site operator stores his web content. The various cache servers each have a copy of the contents of the original server.
A modern distribution system distributes the content to the various cache servers. If a user makes a request to the origin server, then an intelligent request routing system takes over the redirection of this request. Most web content, such as picturesgraphics and videos are cacheable because they are static. This means that the contents can be stored in a digital folder. This means that these multimedia contents can also be stored on the various cache servers in a content delivery network. The CDN can also be used for dynamic content. These are dynamic because they are changed by the visitors of the website. A classic example is a database query with individual filter rules. Although most dynamic applications are not cache capable, their loading times can still be accelerated with the CDN. How the CDN works in practice can be explained relatively easily.
How the Content Delivery Network works in practice
Companies using the CDN only need to upload their data once to the source server. This is usually done via FTP access. The website operators do not have to worry about the distribution of the content, because the content delivery network takes care of this automatically.
When you visit a website and access its content, your location is determined via your IP address. The request routing system then immediately assigns you the nearest cache server. If this server already has the file you called up, it will be transferred directly to your web browser. If the content is not yet on the cache server, your request is forwarded to the origin server. At the same time, the cache server loads the current file from the origin server. Once a file has been loaded from the origin server for the first time, it is stored permanently in the cache server's memory. This type of storage is called file caching. The static objects are cached without any problems and do not have to be reloaded from the origin server each time.
Due to its globally distributed structure and caching technology, the CDN can process significantly more web accesses than a classic server. All web content is located in the immediate geographical vicinity of the website visitor and can therefore be loaded much faster. The Content Delivery Network is used by most larger companies for a reason. In general, however, the CDN is also suitable for smaller companies and private website operators. If you decide to use the modern technology, you will enjoy several advantages.
Latencies have a negative effect on the surfing experience
When an Internet browser calls up a website, it takes a moment for all the content to load. Content with a low memory volume of less than one megabyte is the most time-consuming. In order to load all content, such as text, Flash animations and images, the browser needs on average between 80 and 90 percent of the total loading time. The greater the geographical distance between server and website visitor, the longer the loading process. For normal websites without memory-heavy content, the latency (time delay) is hardly noticed by the visitor. However, when it comes to elaborately designed websites or online shops, a longer loading time has a very negative effect on the visitor.
For example, if the user is in Stuttgart and the server is in Frankfurt, then the data can be loaded in about 30 ms. However, if the server is not located in Stuttgart, but in New York, then the loading time can easily increase tenfold. In such a case, the website visitor clearly feels this high latency. The content delivery network ensures that the visitor is never too far away from the server. It does not matter whether it is the origin server or one of the numerous cache servers. The CDN ensures that the visitor is always redirected to the optimal server. The static content can be delivered to the website visitors' computers worldwide with a consistent low latency. Through this modern network, both sides benefit from significant advantages.
Every website operator benefits from the Content Delivery Network
A content delivery network is suitable for companies that run websites with many images and videos. These include image and video portals and social party communities. Companies that operate websites with many uploads and downloads also benefit significantly from a CDN. The modern network is also advantageous for private website operators, self-employed persons and smaller companies.
If you run a website or an online shop, then you depend on visitors or customers. Generally, there are two factors that are important for every visitor of a website. Firstly, the website must be visually appealing and secondly, it must load quickly. If only one of these two factors does not apply, then you will lose visitors and also customers. This fact will of course have a negative impact on your financial situation. For example, if you have a lot of customers from abroad, then the distance to your web server is relatively long. This distance has a negative effect on the loading times, even if you do not have many multimedia elements on your site. Through the Content Delivery Network, your foreign visitors will benefit from significantly faster loading times. In addition to the fast availability of your web content, your own web server (if available) is significantly relieved and you save bandwidth and therefore also money. The investment in a Content Delivery Network pays for itself.
You can find a suitable CDN provider at almost every major German Internet service provider. They work together with the content delivery networks and offer the services as part of their hosting offer. Depending on which provider you choose, you can also enjoy additional services. By constantly analyzing your traffic, your website will be additionally protected. Harmful calls can thus be reliably filtered out. The Content Delivery Network thus prevents your website from becoming the target of spammers, DDoS attacks and SQL injection attacks.
