AiVibeContent Delivery Network (CDN)
A content delivery network (CDN) is a distributed network of edge servers that caches and serves web content, media and files from locations close to users, cutting latency and reducing load on the origin server.
A content delivery network (CDN) is a geographically distributed network of servers, often called points of presence or edge locations, that caches and delivers content from locations close to users. When a user requests a file, DNS or anycast routing directs the request to a nearby edge server. If the content is cached there it is returned immediately; otherwise the edge fetches it from the origin server and stores a copy according to caching rules.
CDNs reduce page load times, lower the load and bandwidth costs on origin servers and absorb traffic spikes. They deliver websites, software updates, video streams and API responses, and many also provide TLS termination, web application firewall and DDoS mitigation services at the edge. Well-known services include Amazon CloudFront, Cloudflare, Akamai, Azure Front Door and Google Cloud CDN.
Effective use depends on cache-control headers, sensible time-to-live values and a purge or versioning strategy so that users do not receive stale content. Personalised or sensitive responses must be excluded from shared caches. CDN performance is usually measured through cache hit ratio, latency and origin offload, and edge compute features allow small functions to run at points of presence.
Key points
- Edge servers cache content near users and fetch from the origin on a cache miss
- Reduces latency, origin load and bandwidth costs, and absorbs traffic spikes
- Many CDNs add TLS termination, web application firewall and DDoS protection
- Cache-control headers and purge strategies prevent stale or leaked content
Where AiVibe comes in
AiVibe Software Services delivers cloud solutions on AWS, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud or on-premise, together with cloud security, legacy modernisation, data analytics and AI and machine learning services.