Demand For a Faster Web
It is truly the epitome of the advent of information age when everyone from the tech savvy new age marketers to the way less tech savvy laymen stereotypes are seen on the streets tapping on smart phones, and talking rather enthusiastically and knowledgeably about dropping 3g internet rates. But it does not stop there, they want information and they want it now, on the go. People do not wait for your precious little website to load, they want it loaded and ready at the click of a button or the tap of a finger. To cater to the voraciously increasing demand for the huge reserves of information available through the internet in a fast and efficient way, an effective mode of content distribution called content delivery networks were designed and implemented.
Content Delivery Networks
CDNs are a method of providing content to end users in a fast and efficient way. CDNs or Content delivery networks use large networks of servers placed strategically around the world to remotely store data and provide it on demand to end users. The operational hierarchy is as follows: The various content rich websites and clients employ CDNs to distribute their online content effectively to their audience around the world. CDNs in turn employ ISPs, network carriers etc. and use data centers provided by them to host servers.
Types of Files That Can Be Stored in a CDN
Usually using a CDN, static files such as CSS files, Javascripts, images, videos, and audio files are stored for efficient and fast sharing. Files that do not undergo dynamic changes are preferably stored using CDNs.
Advantages of Using a CDN
Ease of access for data across the globe
Distribution of data and content using CDN has resulted in the starting of an age of faster and easier internet access. The time required to access data from a website that was established across continents and oceans has been reduced drastically through the introduction of CDNs. A series of signals that had to make the journey across land and sea could now be stored in remote servers and accessed on demand.
Decreases Server Load on the Main Infrastructure
Using the CDN distributed model of remote servers, the total load on the content provider owned IT infrastructure is drastically reduced. Instead numerous servers placed closer to the end users, shares the load and can alleviate network issues like bottlenecking and server overload.
Reduced Bandwidth Costs
Using CDNs the bandwidth costs accumulated by the content provider can be reduced.
Easy delivery of content rich media
Media such as audio and video files that require large bandwidth could be distributed faster and effectively through CDNs
Increased efficiency and higher revenue
Increase in response time for your websites and portals ensures a higher return of investments and furthermore it ensures customer satisfaction, effectively.
Manageable and efficient scaling
Your online business presence can be scaled up efficiently and effortlessly on the content distribution front using CDNs. This is especially effective in the case of e-commerce portals.
Easy management of traffic peaks
Traffic peaks can be easily manageable using CDNs due to its distributed nature and the availability of multiple sources for the same content.
Security benefits
Malicious attacks like denial of service (DoS) attacks can be contained and managed through the extensive network infrastructure offered by various CDNs.
LIST OF FREE CDNs
1. jsDelivr
An open source project, it is one of the most efficient and comprehensive options available online for developers. It hosts more than 1000 open source projects and provides the amazing service uptimes.
2. Cdnjs
With just over 900 open source projects hosted on cdnjs, it is another big time player providing free CDN services. It supports numerous plugins and extensions making it a very reliable resource for developers.
3. Microsoft Ajax CDN
Largely unnoticed and overlooked, Microsoft operates a fully functional and efficient CDN. Microsoft Ajax CDN supports numerous open source projects such as jQuery, Bootstrap, and respond.js Security and reliability is a guarantee from this open source project maintained by the tech giant.
4. Open Source Software CDN
OSSCDN, as it is otherwise known, is an open source project maintained by MaxCDN and supported by jsDelivr.
5. Google Hosted Libraries
Another open source project by the tech giants, Google hosted libraries hosts numerous popular JavaScript frameworks such as AngularJS, jQuery, and even old ones such as MooTools and prototype.
6. Bootstrap CDN
Bootstrap CDN is a project specific CDN which can be used to serve the Bootstrap core, Fontawesome and Bootswatch.
7. jQuery CDN
This is another project specific CDN for jQuery projects.
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