What's the general term for systems used to quickly deliver static content (images, videos, JS/CSS files) to users in different regions of the world over the internet? By working in sync with edge computing, these systems bring content servers "closer to the user." So, do you think CDNs are only used for speed, or do they have other advantages too?
What is a CDN and how does it work?
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The benefits of CDNs go beyond just speed, in my opinion. I think their most important advantage is **load balancing** and protecting server resources. Especially during sudden traffic spikes (like what happens on e-commerce sites during Black Friday), they prevent the original servers from crashing. In one of my projects, once we started serving our JS library via a CDN, the response time, which was 500ms under normal traffic, stayed under 2s even during a sudden surge—the user experience was saved.
CDNs also add a **security layer**. Services like Cloudflare’s WAF and DDoS protection block DDoS attacks. When we faced a similar attack after implementing a CDN, it filtered out 90% of the traffic and didn’t let it reach our original server. So, it’s not just about speed—it’s a critical tool for operational resilience and security.