When is it worth to use CDN?

The Internet has changed beyond recognition in the last 10 years. Along with the constantly growing number of websites and companies that are starting to appear on the Internet, the standard of their appearance, content they contain and above all speed of operation and reliability increases. Unfortunately, a slowly loading page or seeing only a message with an error strongly discourages to its owner, creating a conviction that if he does not care about his own website, he will certainly not care about the client either. It is in the interest of every entrepreneur to ensure that his website stays up to date with trends and standards.

WHAT IS CDN?

CDN can definitely help you look after your website. It is an abbreviation of Content Delivery Network. It means a network connected computers that work as a back-up or supporting servers of your site. When the main server fails, several more computers in the background have the most important data on your part and allow you to open it. Even if it means only a basic template and information.

HOW DOES IT WORK?

When a user’s computer enters a website, it connects with the nearest computer which is in a CDN network. In this way the loading time of the content is smaller and the bandwidth of the link increases. Computers that are closest to each other geographically connect faster and retrieve the content faster from the main server or display a copy of the website. If you do not have this solution, and several users will come to your website from several places on the world, the ones furthest from the main server will have to wait even a few seconds, due to the limited bandwidth. This is too much for some users who may get impatient at the time. This is especially important for online store owners who have large amounts of static content such as photos.

How to use them? On CDN servers you can load specific content – not necessarily a full site. The largest files or static content that extend the loading time, can be transferred to the CDN. In this way the main server will be unloaded and will be able to take care of the most important element – front-end. The risk of overloading at the critical moment will decrease.

THE BENEFITS OF USING CDN

The main benefit of using CDN is the speed of loading the website. First of all, the main beneficiary of it is the user so a person for whom the website was prepared. In his browser the page will load faster, what saves his private time. By the way, it certainly also affects his opinion about the site owner who took care of this important detail. The fast loading website is now a low-hanging bar and an obligatory element, especially for companies operating on the Internet.

Another benefit is the higher rank among websites indexed by Google. Unfortunately, whether we like it or not, site scanning robots, take into account their speed, based on which you gain a place in Google classification. Although CDN comes to help. If the page loads faster, it will be moved higher in the search results what will increase the number of visits, which in turn will increase the need for stable and fast server operation. It is a system that improves results and prepares you for success.

CDN also provides additional protection against attacks. It does not allow a large amount of external queries, i.e. a DoS or DDoS attack method, which means blocking the server by using all its resources.

ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF CDN

There are many advantages but certainly two of them are the speed of the site, which affects the user’s assessment, as well as higher positioning in the search results. In addition, after unloading the main server will operate more stable. There are no concern about duplicate content claims, because scanning robots take into account the domain, not the IP address of the site. When entering the site, it does not matter from what address it will be loaded. In addition, the level of security and comfort in cooperation with users from the world increases. The size of your website starts to be less important as well because a group of computers will do a better job compared to only one server.

The disadvantage may be the cost of implementing this system and its maintenance for a small businesses. Several hundred dollars a month may discourage but taking into account the burden taken off the sounders of the main hosting server, this solution may be profitable on the long run. In addition, if you decide to implement the CDN on your own for your website without having any experience, the effect of a higher search position in the search engine may be opposite to the desired one.

A CDN solution is a system in which everyone gains. An infrastructure that speeds the operation of websites up is created. You pay for the service which will allow you to reduce the cost of hosting the main server in the future. If you have a site with high amount of downloadable materials, a lot of graphics, online store and websites exposed to attacks due to valuable content stores or sites nationwide or even worldwide, then CDN is certainly for you.