Content Delivery Networks (CDN) have not only improved web hosting by reducing latency and improving site speed, but it has also contributed a lion’s share of disseminating content to networks and website users across the globe. CDNs can efficiently distribute content in almost all forms including text, live streaming, audio files, images, documents, and software just to name a few.

Majority of CDNs are used for hosting static resources including CSS files, images, and JavaScript. Common networks of public and private CDNs consist of CSS resets, fonts, HTML5 shims and common JavaScript libraries.

Important technical benefits of CDN services

Availability of additional domains- It is common for browsers to restrict number of simultaneous downloads or connections to a single domain. Majority of browsers facilitate up to four connections and the fifth download has to wait till at least one of the earlier downloads is finished. CDNs are hosted on different domains and therefore multiply capacity of concurrent downloads significantly.

Pre-cached files- Since jQuery is always present on the web it is always possible that visitors have earlier visited the site by using CDN and therefore the file will not have to be downloaded since it already exists in cached form.

Greater capacity infrastructure- Users can benefit from superior capacity of infrastructure of CDN service providers. If you are using Microsoft or Google CDNs, then it is obvious that you will be able to leverage capacity of these providers, which is exponentially higher than your web hosting.

Benefit of dispersed data centers- CDNs multiply availability of localized data centers that can effectively reduce intercontinental hops while accessing your files. CDNs strive to ensure presence of data centers in the vicinity of your target audience so that downloads would be much faster.

Availability of specific versions- Users are allowed built-in version control by enabling linking to specific version of JavaScript library or CSS file. It is possible to access the latest version as per your requirement.

Better analytics- many CDN services that operate commercially are able to provide reports of file usage that usually keep on changing per byte. These reports can be used for supporting analytics of your own website.

Performance and economy- By distributing the load CDNs help save bandwidth and elevate performance to next level. You can expect to save your hosting costs without any additional investment.

Common applications of CDNs

Online business ventures- Online enterprises leverage CDNs to boost their website performance to improve online availability of their products and services. According to reliable estimates, Content Delivery Networks guarantee 100 percent uptime and make sure that the business is available across global locations. It is obvious that due to improved business availability ecommerce enterprises can achieve greater revenues through higher rates of conversion.

Online education- CDNs are found to be extremely beneficial in the domain of online education because these can improve availability of online courses, presentations, live streaming of discourses and so forth. Institutes can target students across global locations with support of Content Delivery Networks to ensure superior availability of courses to transcontinental students.

Advertising and media- Process of distributing streaming content across distant locations can be overwhelming. CDNs improve dissemination of streaming content so that visitors are able to access the latest content. The demand for online media, video streaming, or audio streaming is ever increasing with proliferation of web cams and CCTV monitoring. Digital content providers and media services can exploit the demand by offering updated news, music, online games, and movies, in variety of formats. The distribution of live streaming can be accelerated by CDNs by ensuring availability of the same at the closest data center with reference to user location.

Business sites- By enhancing interaction between websites and visitors, CDN improves business prospects to a large extent. Since greater website speed is an important metric for improved SEO, CDNs are highly sought after by business owners. Content Delivery Networks act as website boosters by guaranteeing content availability at nearest locations to your target audiences.

Greater content availability and user experience

In addition to the above categories, CDNs are also extensively leveraged by social networking sites, gaming sites, and other entertainment sites to facilitate content distribution with reduced latency and improved availability.

Since CDNs can be easily integrated with cloud delivery models, to enhance scalability as well as availability. Content loading can be accelerated to mitigate response time while delivering the same to users that are located at faraway destinations. One more distinct advantage of cloud CDN is improving content redundancy without using costly hardware. Content Delivery Networks significantly enhance user experience by improving ability of websites to handle traffic spikes.

Internet is all about content, which is delivered by websites in response to request by visitors. The process of content delivery can be severely impacted by distances. Content Delivery Network accelerates content deliveries by reducing distances between the user and content by deployment of CDN nodes in multiple data center locations.