{"id":12681,"date":"2020-09-21T15:00:44","date_gmt":"2020-09-21T13:00:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/?p=12681"},"modified":"2020-12-04T10:44:59","modified_gmt":"2020-12-04T09:44:59","slug":"what-is-a-cdn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/what-is-a-cdn\/","title":{"rendered":"What is a CDN And Why You Need It"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wpb-content-wrapper\"><p>[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Your website could always perform better than it currently does. It\u2019s one of those truths that you understand as soon as you start taking websites seriously and looking for ways you can make them perform better. The list of the things you can try never ends, and it\u2019s always growing thanks to the people who come up with new ways to make websites work better.<br \/>\n[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;28px&#8221;][vc_column_text]You\u2019ve probably already attempted a couple of things. You might have spent some time <a href=\"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/how-to-optimize-images-for-web\/\">optimizing images for the web<\/a> before using them on your website. Or you\u2019ve installed a <a href=\"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wordpress-search-plugins\/\">nifty WordPress search plugin<\/a> to help visitors navigate your site. And it\u2019s just a matter of time when working down the list will get you wondering what a CDN is and why you would want to get one.[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;28px&#8221;][vc_column_text]We\u2019re here to answer that very question. We\u2019ll show you:[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;22px&#8221;]<ul class=\"qodef-unordered-list-item qodef-toc\">\n    <li>\n\t        <div class=\"qodef-ul-title-holder\">\n            <span class=\"qodef-ul-title-content\"><a href=\"#what-is-cdn\">What\u2019s a CDN and How It Works<\/a><\/span>        <\/div>\n            <\/li>\n<\/ul>[vc_empty_space height=&#8221;5px&#8221;]<ul class=\"qodef-unordered-list-item qodef-toc\">\n    <li>\n\t        <div class=\"qodef-ul-title-holder\">\n            <span class=\"qodef-ul-title-content\"><a href=\"#why-use-cdn\">Reasons to Use a CDN<\/a><\/span>        <\/div>\n            <\/li>\n<\/ul>[vc_empty_space height=&#8221;5px&#8221;]<ul class=\"qodef-unordered-list-item qodef-toc\">\n    <li>\n\t        <div class=\"qodef-ul-title-holder\">\n            <span class=\"qodef-ul-title-content\"><a href=\"#start-using-cdn\">How to Start Using a CDN<\/a><\/span>        <\/div>\n            <\/li>\n<\/ul>[vc_empty_space height=&#8221;68px&#8221;][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"qodef-h4\"><a id=\"what-is-cdn\"><\/a>What Is a CDN and How Does It Work?<\/h2>\n<p>[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;24px&#8221;]<div class=\"qodef-single-image-holder    \">\n    <div class=\"qodef-si-inner\" >\n                                    <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"700\" height=\"395\" src=\"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/What-Is-a-CDN-and-How-Does-It-Work.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"What Is a CDN and How Does It Work?\" srcset=\"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/What-Is-a-CDN-and-How-Does-It-Work.jpg 700w, https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/What-Is-a-CDN-and-How-Does-It-Work-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/What-Is-a-CDN-and-How-Does-It-Work-620x350.jpg 620w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px\" \/>                        <\/div>\n<\/div>[vc_empty_space height=&#8221;38px&#8221;][vc_column_text]CDN is short for \u201ccontent delivery network.\u201d <strong>A CDN is a network of servers that aims to reduce latency \u2014 among other things \u2014 by ensuring that it serves content from a server that\u2019s the closest to the geographic location of the person making the request<\/strong>.[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;28px&#8221;][vc_column_text]When someone tries to access your website, their browser sends a request to the server that\u2019s hosting your website. When it does that, it\u2019s telling the server to deliver data that makes up the page you want to see.<strong> After the server replies and provides the data, your browser will display it as content<\/strong>.[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;28px&#8221;][vc_column_text]This type of communication can be problematic, and not in the least because, even in the digital world, distances matter. <strong>It takes time for the request to get from the browser to the server, and it takes time for data to get back from the server to the browser<\/strong>. The bigger the physical distance between the browser and the server, the more time it will pass until you see the reply to your request.[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;28px&#8221;][vc_column_text]A content delivery network aims to reduce the latency by hosting parts of your website \u2014 the static content such as images, for example \u2014 on servers that are part of a network. <strong>When a request reaches your website\u2019s server, some of your website\u2019s content is served from the CDN\u2019s server closest to the browser that sent the request, reducing the latency<\/strong>.[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;68px&#8221;][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"qodef-h4\"><a id=\"why-use-cdn\"><\/a>Why Use a CDN?<\/h2>\n<p>[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;24px&#8221;]<div class=\"qodef-single-image-holder    \">\n    <div class=\"qodef-si-inner\" >\n                                    <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"700\" height=\"395\" src=\"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Why-Use-a-CDN.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"Why Use a CDN?\" srcset=\"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Why-Use-a-CDN.jpg 700w, https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Why-Use-a-CDN-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Why-Use-a-CDN-620x350.jpg 620w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px\" \/>                        <\/div>\n<\/div>[vc_empty_space height=&#8221;38px&#8221;][vc_column_text]If you\u2019re thinking that a CDN is just another tool for making your website load faster, you\u2019re wrong. True, a CDN will make your web pages load more quickly to people who would otherwise experience slowdown because they are far away from the server. <strong>But the benefits don\u2019t end there<\/strong>.[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;28px&#8221;][vc_column_text]<strong>A complete list of reasons to use a CDN would also include:<\/strong>[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;22px&#8221;]<ul class=\"qodef-unordered-list-item qodef-toc\">\n    <li>\n\t        <div class=\"qodef-ul-title-holder\">\n            <span class=\"qodef-ul-title-content\"><strong>SEO benefits<\/strong> \u2014 because search engines like it when pages load quickly.<\/span>        <\/div>\n            <\/li>\n<\/ul><ul class=\"qodef-unordered-list-item qodef-toc\">\n    <li>\n\t        <div class=\"qodef-ul-title-holder\">\n            <span class=\"qodef-ul-title-content\"><strong>Lower bandwidth costs<\/strong> \u2014 CDN reduces the load on your website\u2019s server.<\/span>        <\/div>\n            <\/li>\n<\/ul><ul class=\"qodef-unordered-list-item qodef-toc\">\n    <li>\n\t        <div class=\"qodef-ul-title-holder\">\n            <span class=\"qodef-ul-title-content\"><strong>Better content availability<\/strong> \u2014 lower server loads generally make for more stable servers.<\/span>        <\/div>\n            <\/li>\n<\/ul><ul class=\"qodef-unordered-list-item qodef-toc\">\n    <li>\n\t        <div class=\"qodef-ul-title-holder\">\n            <span class=\"qodef-ul-title-content\"><strong>Higher redundancy<\/strong> \u2014 your content is safe as it\u2019s present on multiple servers.<\/span>        <\/div>\n            <\/li>\n<\/ul><ul class=\"qodef-unordered-list-item qodef-toc\">\n    <li>\n\t        <div class=\"qodef-ul-title-holder\">\n            <span class=\"qodef-ul-title-content\"><strong>Advanced security<\/strong> \u2014 some CDNs offer DDoS protection.<\/span>        <\/div>\n            <\/li>\n<\/ul>[vc_empty_space height=&#8221;28px&#8221;][vc_column_text]Most importantly, however, is that you can grow your website and your traffic as much as you want, and wherever you want \u2014 the right CDN will keep giving you the resources your website needs for proper functioning. <strong>The CDN should scale up with your traffic, too, removing the bottleneck that is your hosting<\/strong>.[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;68px&#8221;][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"qodef-h4\"><a id=\"start-using-cdn\"><\/a>How to Start Using a CDN<\/h2>\n<p>[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;24px&#8221;]<div class=\"qodef-single-image-holder    \">\n    <div class=\"qodef-si-inner\" >\n                                    <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"700\" height=\"395\" src=\"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/How-to-Start-Using-a-CDN.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"How to Start Using a CDN\" srcset=\"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/How-to-Start-Using-a-CDN.jpg 700w, https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/How-to-Start-Using-a-CDN-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/How-to-Start-Using-a-CDN-620x350.jpg 620w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px\" \/>                        <\/div>\n<\/div>[vc_empty_space height=&#8221;38px&#8221;][vc_column_text]A CDN is not the same as a website host, and it doesn\u2019t replace it. If you\u2019re wondering whether you made a mistake choosing a website host for your website instead of a CDN, don\u2019t worry &#8211; you haven\u2019t. <strong>You can\u2019t use a CDN to host your website<\/strong>. However, some website hosting providers also offer CDN services, so you might want to consider that if you\u2019re looking for a new host for your WordPress website. An example of this type of service is <a href=\"https:\/\/wpengine.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">WP Engine<\/a>, as it lets its customers use the services of a CDN.[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;28px&#8221;][vc_column_text]If your web host doesn\u2019t provide a CDN service, you can sign up for free with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cloudflare.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Cloudflare<\/a>. It\u2019s one of the most popular providers of CDN and DDoS attack mitigation services, which it offers to individuals for free. <strong>When you\u2019re ready to step up with the options, you can move to one of the paid plans<\/strong>.[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;28px&#8221;][vc_column_text]<strong>Some WordPress plugins might also offer some CDN services<\/strong>. Site Accelerator is a feature of the <a href=\"https:\/\/jetpack.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jetpack WordPress plugin<\/a> that serves as a content delivery network for the images on your website. But if you\u2019re not willing to take on all of the other features of Jetpack just so you can use a CDN for your images, you can also choose one of the CDN service providers such as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.stackpath.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">StackPath<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/sucuri.net\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Sucuri<\/a>, or <a href=\"https:\/\/aws.amazon.com\/cloudfront\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Amazon CloudFront<\/a>.[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;68px&#8221;][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"qodef-h4\">Let\u2019s Wrap It Up!<\/h2>\n<p>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]In an ongoing race to have a website that\u2019s faster, stronger, and better than the competitor\u2019s, you\u2019ll rarely if ever find yourself without a performance-boosting method you haven\u2019t tried yet. When it comes to CDNs, you don\u2019t even have to worry you\u2019re late to the party. Whenever you start using it will be good for your website\u2019s performance.<br \/>\n[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;28px&#8221;][vc_column_text]Remember, however, that CDNs will do more than speed up your website. They\u2019ll also make it more reliable, safer, and they might even make your website cheaper to host. So even though the answer to the question \u201cwhat is a CDN?\u201d isn\u2019t \u201ca miracle tool that improves your website in every conceivable way,\u201d you still have more than enough reasons to give one a go.<br \/>\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Want to know what a CDN is and why you should use it? We&#8217;ll show you the benefits of using content delivery networks and point out some good ones.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9295,"featured_media":12833,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[34,25,4,13],"class_list":["post-12681","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-resources","tag-security","tag-seo","tag-tips","tag-wordpress"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12681","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9295"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12681"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12681\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12833"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12681"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12681"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12681"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}