Published on February 1st, 2018 | by Sunit Nandi
0Is It Necessary to Incorporate CDN services in your Web Pages?
With the gargantuan enhancement in the number of web pages on the internet, it has become imminent to optimize the websites. This not only enhances the performance but also contributes to an increased traffic transaction. In order to provide clients with their specific demands, business owners are not leaving any stones unturned.
The initial step towards the accomplishment of their demands is to deliver the contents promptly without any delay. Content Delivery Network or CDN is the solution that works best in conjugation with the outstanding contents to attract maximum number of customers. Business objectives must be defined very precisely before assimilating CDN to achieve maximum output from it.
Why was CDN Introduced?
Previously, web contents were located only at the host servers. This increased latency due to a huge distance between the host and end users. It led to reduced speed and performance of the web pages, which caused immense dissatisfaction. The users had to wait for a considerable amount of time for a proper response from the host servers after the initiation of a request.
However, with the advent of CDN, the geographical distance between the end users and host has decreased greatly. Due to this, the latency has also depleted, which has remarkably enhanced the speed. Though the method of incorporating CDN varies with the size of the business, the purpose remains the same.
How Does CDN Work?
As the name suggests, CDN is a network of nodes that are spread across the world to deliver contents to the clients. The specific content of a webpage, which demands the maximum up time, is cached in different edge servers of the web page. Since the edge servers are located in numerous strategic locations, the users are able to access the contents seamlessly. The content distance travelled from the host server to users has reduced greatly with the introduction of CDN. This offers minimum website load speed, irrespective of the time, location, and amount of traffic of the web pages. To enhance the user experience and server response, diversified algorithms were introduced. These affirmed that the traffic is managed, the cost is controlled, and loading time is depleted.
CDN Services & Content Distribution
CDN is helpful for the following types of content distributions, apart from managing huge traffic:
- Progressive Downloading– This takes place when an enormous file is not only downloading, but is also executing its action at the same time. This enables the users to enjoy the file immediately without having to wait for it to download. This format is primarily used for feeds and advertisement videos to attract the customers.
- Downloading– A huge file like software distribution needs secure access to service and faster download speed. CDN offers exactly the same along with the capability to resume the download from a ceased position caused due to an intermittent connection. It also helps download enormous files seamlessly.
- Streaming- CDN offers uninterrupted delivery of contents and video broadcasts that can be viewed from any point.
CDN & E-commerce
E-commerce is incomplete without the incorporation of CDN, as it is directly related to the traffic. CDN not only enhances the performance of the web page, but also contributes to the placid handling of the traffic. The real-time information is provided to the customers across the globe, which helps grab the worldwide clients. With the reduction in latency, the users receive the images and CSS files immediately without any lag. This technology makes sure the user enjoys a pleasant experience, irrespective of the geographical location. Even during the period of sale, CDN braces the websites to tackle a huge traffic rush with ease and competence.
What Causes the Websites to Slow Down?
The following are the reasons that lead to a slow web page response time:
- The complexity and quality of the applications, software, and media files are growing exponentially. The demand to deliver larger files put immense pressure on the host servers and organizational infrastructure. The lack of storage space, server volume, as well as bandwidth diminishes the performance of the websites immensely.
- With time, the websites implement a fresh and huge set of files that include text, audio, and video files. This attracts more users that cause traffic jams, slowing down the network.
- The users prefer accessing the internet through various kinds of devices which can cause serious internet congestion and performance issues. This might lead to the loss of potential customers.
The aforementioned points are the prime reasons that can cause a website to perform in a poor manner.
CDN offers an appropriate solution to these concerns by offering diversified contents to various customers who are placed at different locations. It allows the customers to enjoy fast access to static contents, in turn, rendering a seamless access experience.
Is It Mandatory to Implement CDN?
It was found in a survey that a normal user expects a website to open in less than 2 seconds. Among these users, 40% tend to discard the website if it doesn’t open in 3 seconds. Hence, CDN is an important attribute that can attract maximum customers. Even if a website is highly attractive, loss of promptness tends to a loss of clients. In a nutshell, this immensely pragmatic technology offers access to the websites at lightning speed, without any/little error. It also catalyses voice, video, games, as well as mobile content, making it a widely acclaimed system.
A website can run without CDN, but with CDN it will make sure to accentuate the business in exchange for happier customers.
Conclusion
Content Delivery Network offers extreme perks that affirm satisfied customers, in the long run, contributing to client retention and accentuated business outcomes. It also reduces the overall cost to the organizations by improving the performance.
Therefore, it is important to search for a competent CDN service provider that will design a solution to customize your requirement. They also offer proficient customer support to solve the technical queries of the clients. It is beneficial to incorporate CDN into your business to reap maximum benefits in the long run.