What is a content delivery network or content distribution network (CDN)?

A content distribution network is a system consisting of interconnected cache servers that delivers web content using geographical proximity.

In a content distribution network, different copies of the same content exist on strategically spread out servers. A large content delivery network can have more than a thousand servers spread out all over the world, this makes it possible for the content distribution network to send content to different clients that are requesting it, and it can do so reliably and efficiently. Due to thousands of servers all over the world a content distribution network can efficiently send content, even when there is a sudden increase in demand or in conditions of limited bandwidth. So content delivery networks are particularly good for distributing streaming video, internet television and audio. Internet service providers also use content delivery networks to deliver dynamic or static web pages.

A content distribution network uses a management software that calculates which one of the CDS’s servers is geographically located nearest to the client that is requesting the content, and then the content is delivered according to those calculations. There are numerous advantages of using this management software and using the nearest server to deliver the content. Firstly, this significantly reduces the distance the content has to travel before reaching the desired destination. Secondly, this reduces the hops the data package has to make. Thirdly, reducing the distance between the server and the requesting client reduces packet loss, leads to faster performance and optimized bandwidth. All this minimizes jitter, time-outs and latency and improves the overall experience of the user. Another important thing to note about content delivery network is that because it holds the same content over multiple servers, in case of an internet attack the content will not be lost and it will remain accessible to at least some of the users.

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