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Serving website via CDN

A Content Delivery Network (CDN) is a globally distributed network of servers that work together to deliver content to end-users. When a user requests content from a website, the CDN determines the optimal server to serve the content from, based on factors such as the user's geographic location and server availability.

Why serve a website through a CDN?

Serving a website through a CDN has several benefits. Firstly, it can improve website performance by reducing the time it takes for content to be delivered to the user. This is because the CDN can serve content from a server that is geographically closer to the user, resulting in faster load times. Secondly, it can help to reduce the load on the website's server, as the CDN can handle some of the traffic. This can help to prevent the website from becoming overloaded during periods of high traffic.

Added website security

CDNs can also add an extra layer of security to a website. By serving content from multiple servers, a CDN can help to prevent Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks by spreading the traffic across multiple servers. Additionally, many CDNs offer security features such as SSL encryption and Web Application Firewalls (WAFs) to help protect against other types of attacks.

How caching reduces the environmental impact

Caching is the process of storing frequently accessed data in a cache so that it can be quickly retrieved when needed. When a website is served through a CDN, the CDN can cache the website's content on its servers. This means that when a user requests content from the website, the CDN can serve the cached content instead of requesting it from the website's server. This can help to reduce the load on the website's server and can also reduce the environmental impact of the website, as less energy is required to serve the content. CDN’s are also optimized to serve cached content.

Available CDNs

There are several CDNs available, including:

  • Cloudflare: Cloudflare is a popular CDN that offers a range of security features, including DDoS protection and SSL encryption. Cloudflare is also considered a green CDN which makes it one if not the best choice.
  • Fastly: Fastly is a CDN that is designed for high-traffic websites and offers real-time analytics and instant purging of cached content.
  • Akamai: Akamai is one of the largest CDNs in the world and offers a range of security and performance features, including DDoS protection and edge caching.
  • Amazon CloudFront: Amazon CloudFront is a scalable and secure CDN that integrates with other Amazon Web Services (AWS) products.
  • Google Cloud CDN: Google Cloud CDN is a CDN that is designed to integrate with other Google Cloud products and offers real-time logging and monitoring.