CDN is an abbreviation for Content Delivery Network (or Content Distribution Network). It is a network of servers (points of presence) that store replicas of content from other sites in memory (cache) and then deliver them to visitors, based on their geographic location to connect them to the closest and fastest server, reducing the data transfer time (latency).
The CDN will also communicate with the origin server to deliver any content that has not been previously cached. In addition, its use allows the website to better support DDoS attacks and maintain high availability, as it is simultaneously present in different datacenters.
The most modern CDNs also have features such as Dynamic Content Cache, to ease server processing and speed up pages even more, and Web Application Firewall (WAF), to provide more security to websites and e-commerces.
Content delivery networks are used for B2B interactions and delivering content to consumers.
Today, as more aspects of daily life move online, organizations are using content delivery networks to accelerate static content, dynamic content, mobile content, e-commerce transactions, video, voice, games, etc.