CDN
A network of servers distributed globally that delivers content faster by serving it from locations closer to the user.
Definition
A CDN (Content Delivery Network) is a geographically distributed group of servers that work together to deliver web content – images, videos, scripts, stylesheets – to users as quickly as possible. Instead of every request hitting one central server, a CDN routes requests to the nearest available node.
Why it matters
Latency is the enemy of user experience. A server in New York responding to a user in Tokyo adds hundreds of milliseconds to every request. A CDN places copies of your assets around the world so that Tokyo user hits a server in Singapore or Tokyo instead. Faster load times also directly affect SEO rankings.
Example
Cloudflare, AWS CloudFront, and Fastly are popular CDN providers. Most large websites use a CDN to serve static assets. That’s why loading a major news site in Australia feels just as fast as loading it in the US.