What is CDN?
A CDN (Content Delivery Network) is a globally distributed set of servers that cache and serve content — images, scripts, video, even whole pages — from a location physically close to each user. This cuts latency and offloads traffic from your origin server.
CDNs also add resilience and security, absorbing traffic spikes and helping mitigate DDoS attacks. Popular CDNs include Cloudflare, Amazon CloudFront, and Fastly.
Key points
- Caches content at edge locations near users.
- Reduces latency and offloads the origin server.
- Improves resilience and helps absorb DDoS attacks.
- Examples: Cloudflare, CloudFront, Fastly.
Example
User in Tokyo → nearest CDN edge → origin (only on cache miss)
Common uses
- Speeding up global websites
- Serving images, video, and static assets
- Reducing bandwidth and server load
- Mitigating traffic spikes and attacks