What Is a CDN, and Why Would I Need It?

Videos that stream smoothly, searches that happen at lightning speed, and no buffering – those are things internet users expect. 

High web performance like this comes through a CDN or content delivery network. 

Also known as a content distribution network, a CDN is a network of proxy servers and data centers that serve end-users related to where they live. 

Hiring a CDN will improve the user experience of those visiting your business’ website and will add greater security to business operations. 

How Does a CDN Work? 

Content delivery networks are third-party services. When an end-user clicks to access content, that content is reached through the nearest CDN server rather than to the point of origin. These CDN servers are located closer to end-users, giving them faster downloads and rapid streaming times.  

The result of the content being pre-cached in the CDN server that’s closest to the end-user is optimal performance in their web use and greater security for your company. 

Not every company needs a content delivery network, but CDNs are essential to enterprises that get heavy traffic to their websites or have websites that are critical to operations. They’re critical in providing a positive user experience that will have visitors returning to your website. 

Related: CDNs Compared: CloudFlare vs MaxCDN

Five Reasons You Need a CDN 

Excellent web user experiences lead to increased business and customers having favorable opinions of your business. Negative user experiences bring negative reviews and comments on social media and to others. With customer loyalty on the line, here are five benefits of hiring a CDN. 

1. Reliability 

Seconds of waiting for web content to load could be costing you sales and customers. Hiring a content delivery network provides excellence in user experience no matter where the end-user is geographically. Using a CDN will ensure rapid load speeds and secure transactions. 

2. Lower Costs 

To get great web performance and security, you could build infrastructure around the world and hire foreign hosting services to serve end-users. Hiring a reliable global content delivery network is much less expensive and far simpler.  

A global CDN will offer your business a single platform for multiple separate operations and will deliver speed, security, and dependability. Once you have hired a CDN, letting the network know which content to offer and then making sure your system sends requests for that content to the CDN. 

Your company’s costs of hiring a CDN will be based on bandwidth, global reach, and security needs, but it will be much less than building your own infrastructure. 

3. Global Reach 

Nearly 60 percent of the world’s population are active internet users. In the developed world, about 87 percent of the population has internet access. Your business can reach customers around the world affordably through using a CDN. Hiring a CDN will give all your customers security as well as fast loading times. 

4. Lower Server Demands 

A content delivery network spreads demand among multiple servers rather than moving it to one larger server, reducing delivery costs and increasing capacity.  

5. Greater Security 

Distributed Denial of Service attacks can cost your company business and damage your reputation. DDoS attacks to crash a server are just one of the security challenges that can be thwarted through CDNs since cloud use adds another layer of protection. A content delivery network can handle higher levels of traffic and protect your website from attack. 

CDNs Are Essential for Businesses

If your small business has customers and website visitors around the world, hiring a content delivery network is crucial for business growth. To give your web visitors the best and most secure experience, a CDN will boost loading speeds, increase capacity and provide a greater level of security. 

How to Choose the Best CDN 

The decision to hire a content delivery network is simple but choosing the best one can be difficult. That’s where 28Msec.com comes in. 

Also Read: Top 3 CDNs for WordPress

By offering easy-to-understand and objective reviews of web hosts and content delivery networks, 28Msec provides the guidance professionals need to make the best digital decisions. 

Contact us online if you have questions on selecting a global CDN or in making web-hosting choices that will help your company reach more customers.