5 Amazing Content Delivery Network Features
Content delivery networks (CDN’s) have transformed the way we see the web in recent years. From their humble beginnings as DDoS protection providers, today’s content delivery networks are loaded with features that can make even a poorly done or old website beat the big boys in terms of performance and other aspects.
There are certainly many things to be excited about when it comes to content delivery networks but here are five of the most amazing features present in modern CDNs.
1. Enhanced Connectivity
A modern content delivery network such as Beluga CDN has robust connectivity mainly through its robust server infrastructure and ISP links. From independent servers to multiple 10G networks that are linked to major exchanges, optimized roots to support for both Ipv4 and Ipv6; these are all connectivity features that only a modern content delivery network can possess.
Having such enhanced connectivity makes modern content delivery networks important players in the modern internet where high availability, reliability and speeds are required to deliver content to an ever-increasing userbase. Today, over 4.75 billion people are using the web for all manner of activities and this kind of connectivity ensures that each of them gets to what they want quickly and efficiently.
2. Website Security
A good content delivery network must provide enhanced protection against common attacks for your websites or web application. This includes DDoS protection at the basic level and advanced malware removal and breach protection. The CDN will be able to intelligently monitor, detect and neutralize threats against your website. You should also be able to see the kind of actions being taken against such threats through the CDN’s dashboard.
While security is not the primary function of a content delivery network, it has slowly become one of the major selling points for most CDNs. Indeed, your content delivery network has a much better position to see the threats facing your web assets because it handles all incoming and outgoing requests to your primary web server.
Modern content delivery networks also utilize advanced AI algorithms to monitor the kind of requests going to your website or web applications and sniff out known malicious attempts. This way, you can rest assured that your web assets will always be secured even if you have not taken a proactive measure to close known loopholes on your web server.
Still on security, some content delivery networks- with Beluga CDN as the prime example- provide necessary security components such as SSL certificates to their clients upon sign up. This way your website will always maintain its safety tag across browsers and can be trusted by visitors. The CDN will be responsible for keeping your SSL certificates updated as long as you are still using their servers to deliver your content.
3. Built-In Hosting
In the traditional CDN arrangement, users had to sign up with a separate host, build their website and then find a separate CDN to handle content delivery. This involved complex activities such as changing the nameservers on your host to those belonging to the content delivery network so that all requests to your website would pass through the CDN.
Fast forward to today and some CDNs- again Beluga CDN being the prime example here- provide both services in a single package. They not only provide content delivery services but also host your websites for you. This ultimately makes it easy for non-technical users to build fast-loading websites that are provided through a content delivery network. At the same time, the CDN will provide hosting to multiple websites, web libraries and any other web asset you might want to be handled by a CDN service.
4. Real-Time Traffic Statistics
You can get a lot of insightful data from your content delivery network dashboard than you can get from any other source. This again boils down to the kind of access you grant to your CDN and how it interacts with your website. Every request coming to your website is going through the content delivery network’s servers. This allows the CDN to keep detailed logs of what is happening on your website, process it and present it you in a way that you can use it to improve your website.
5. Caching Features
One of the ways a CDN can help improve your website’s performance is to generate real-time caches of your web assets and distribute them on its servers so that they can be made available to your visitors. Good CDN’s have real-time caching and can keep them for longer periods.
All in all, a good content delivery network can have an enormous impact on the performance of your website and make running it much easier.