What is a Content Delivery Network (CDN)?
A network of interlinked servers called a content delivery network helps data-intensive applications load webpages more rapidly. Data from the server of a website traverses the internet to get to the user's computer when they view it.
A large file, like a website picture or a video, will take an extended time to load if the user is far from that server. Rather, the material on the website is kept on CDN servers that are located nearer to the users and reach the computers more quickly.
Key Components of a CDN
- Origin Servers: It is the principal root source for maintaining and caching original content as well as the major source for content dissemination.
- Edge Servers: The task of quickly distributing and caching content falls on dispersed servers that are near end users. These servers are known as edge servers that are deliberately placed throughout different regions.
- Content Distribution Nodes: These network nodes oversee directing traffic and help streamline the distribution of content within the CDN, guaranteeing effective traffic control.
- Control Plane: These programs or services are responsible for handling caching of content, load balancing, routing, plus other varied CDN operations.