What CDNs Do and Why They Matter for Web Performance

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A Content Delivery Network (CDN) is a system of geographically distributed servers that store copies of a website's static files closer to end-users, reducing data travel distance and load times. By handling the majority of user requests locally, CDNs prevent a single origin server from being overwhelmed during traffic surges or viral events. They also provide a layer of protection against DDoS attacks by absorbing large spikes of malicious traffic across thousands of regional nodes. Research consistently shows that even a one-second delay in page load time leads to lower search rankings, reduced revenue, and higher user drop-off rates. Developers use CDNs to cut bandwidth costs significantly, with estimates suggesting over 80% of traffic can be offloaded from primary servers.

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ProgrammingDEV Community ·

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