Content delivery network (CDN)

A content delivery network (CDN) serves cached or proxied content from a distributed network of locations.

Format
Performance & CDN
Updated
Updated
Glossary Performance & CDN
Content delivery network Also known as CDN.Aliases: content distribution network, edge network.

Definition

A content delivery network (CDN) serves cached or proxied content from a distributed network of locations.

How it works

By caching your content in many locations, a CDN shortens the trip for each visitor and spares your origin server from delivering the same file thousands of times. It also soaks up traffic spikes. How much it helps depends on your cache rules, how much of your content can safely be reused, and the health of the origin behind it.

Example: A visitor in Sydney can download an image from a nearby CDN location instead of your origin server in Amsterdam.

Often confused: A CDN sits in front of your hosting, not in place of it — the origin application and its database still have to live somewhere.

Sources

Last reviewed 2026-07-19.