What is a CDN?
Understanding the Backbone of Fast and Reliable Websites
What is a CDN?
It seems like a straightforward, universal process. You type the name of a website into a search bar, and wait as a little animation of a growing bar or circle chasing itself informs you that the site is loading. “Give me a moment,” it says. “I’m grabbing what you asked for.” However, though it’s pretty much black magic to some, it makes perfect sense when you understand the underlying technology.
The Basics of Web Hosting
The internet may feel like a borderless, worldwide entity, but every website needs to reside in a single physical location. When you’re a website, “living” is called being “hosted,” and where you’re hosted is called a “server.” So, it makes sense that if you’re in New York, it would take longer for a website hosted on a server in Japan to load than it would for one hosted in Manhattan.
How a CDN Helps
A Content Delivery Network (CDN) remedies this problem by keeping copies of your content (images, videos, CSS stylesheets, etc.) on a connected system of servers across a wide geographic range. When someone attempts to access your website, they are redirected to the server closest to their geographic region, speeding up the loading process significantly.
Why Speed Matters
Have you ever been irritated because a website is taking forever to load? We all have, and if a site takes too long to load, there's a good chance your visitor will abandon it quickly. Additionally, Google has been clear that sites with faster average load times rank higher in search results, which is crucial for your website's visibility and business success.
Crash Resistance with CDN
Imagine you own several retail stores across the country: one in California, one in Texas, and one in Maryland. Your website is hosted near Dallas, TX. When anyone accesses your website, whether from CA, TX, or MD, they’re all directed to the same server. If hundreds of people are doing this simultaneously, the server could get overloaded and crash, taking your website down with it.
A CDN helps prevent this by distributing the load across multiple servers, ensuring that your site remains available even during traffic spikes.
Wizzyl and CDN
At Wizzyl, we understand the importance of speed and reliability for your website. That’s why we use a top-tier CDN to ensure your site loads quickly and stays online, no matter where your visitors are located. Our CDN is part of our commitment to providing you with the best web design and hosting experience possible.
Conclusion
Now that we’ve determined what a CDN is and why it’s important, you may be wondering, “Does Wizzyl use a CDN?” Yes, we do. Wizzyl leverages a reliable, global CDN to ensure your website performs optimally at all times.
Interested in learning more about how a CDN can benefit your site? Subscribe to Wizzyl's blog today and stay tuned for our next post, where we’ll dive into the different types of CDNs, their pros and cons, and how to choose the right one for your needs.
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