What is a CDN?
A content delivery network (CDN) is a server network that delivers content. The purpose of the CDN is to cache and more quickly serve static content based on the geographical location between the origin server (the server your site is hosted on) and the user making the request. This means that when someone in Japan visits your website hosted in the United States, it'll load as fast as a website hosted in Japan.
Think of a CDN as a network of delivery trucks stationed around the world. Instead of shipping a package (your website content) from one central warehouse (your origin server), the trucks deliver the package from the closest local hub (a CDN server). This reduces the time it takes for the package to arrive, ensuring faster delivery.
What are the benefits of using a CDN?
The benefits of using a CDN are:
- Improved content availability and redundancy: High volume traffic or hardware failures can cause downtime for your website; a CDN distributes the load so your site can handle more traffic and endure hardware failure better than a single origin server.
- Improved load times: Users are served content from the point of presence (PoP) geographically closer to them than the origin server, which means faster load times for your website.
- Increased security: A CDN can improve security by mitigating distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks, preventing vulnerability hacks, stopping brute-force attempts against your website login pages, and more.
Not all CDNs are the same. There are both static asset cache CDNs and full-page cache CDNs. The difference is the amount of server load you pass through the distributed network of servers worldwide. Full-page caching improves the load on your server by distributing not just your static assets but also the blocks of code and information from the database for your site.
What CDN options are available for WordPress?
These are the CDN options bundled with Managed WordPress:
- Full-page cache CDN: An updated version of the bundled CDN offering for Managed WordPress sites, which includes full-page cache technology, is now available to eligible customers. This new CDN solution is an industry-leading product that can reach 95% of the world's population within 50 ms. It also includes a Web Application Firewall (WAF) service that will secure your site against potential bad actors.
- Static asset cache CDN: The static asset cache will remain in effect for sites ineligible for full-page cache.
For sites that register their domain with 123 Reg and have the CDN enabled within their Managed WordPress settings, the new CDN with improved optimization and security features will automatically take effect.