What is a CDN?

A content delivery network (CDN) refers to a geographically distributed group of servers that provide fast delivery of Internet content. A CDN allows for the quick transfer of assets needed for loading Internet content including HTML pages, javascript files, stylesheets, images, and videos.

What are the benefits of using a CDN?

Although the benefits of using a CDN vary depending on the size and needs of an Internet property, the primary benefits for most users can be described as:

Improving website load times - By distributing content closer to website visitors by using a nearby CDN server (among other optimizations), visitors experience faster page loading times. As visitors are more inclined to click away from a slow-loading site, a CDN can reduce bounce rates and increase the amount of time that people spend on the site. In other words, a faster website means more visitors will stay and stick around longer.

Improving website security - A CDN may improve security by providing DDoS mitigation, improvements to security certificates, and other optimizations.

Or, Explained Another Way...

When you browse to a website you're connecting to the server that hosts that site, and the server responds as quickly as it can. But if you're in British Columbia and the site you're visiting is hosted on a server in Montreal, it takes an extra second or two to send your request and get the information back. That's still pretty amazingly fast when you think about what's happening, but it can still be faster. A Content Delivery Network (CDN) puts a copy of that website on thousands of servers all love the world, so when you try to reach that website you just have to connect to the server closest to you. It can shave seconds off the load time of your site, and because the site on your nearby server is a copy of the original, it's much harder for bots and spammers to attack. Those seconds matter to your visitors; if they get bored waiting for your site to load they'll just move on.