What is CDN? Why do you need CDN?

CDN stands for "Content Delivery Network", or "Mạng phân phối nội dung” in Vietnamese.

It is a multi-point content storage and distribution system around the world, aiming to deliver content (such as web pages, images, videos, downloads, ...) efficiently and quickly to end users to maximize the user experience.

What is CDN?

CDN stands for Content Delivery Network, which is a network of servers that keep a copy of the static content inside the website and distribute it to many PoP servers. The network of CDN servers is located all over the globe.

From PoP (Points of Presence), data will continue to be sent to the end user. Through a CDN, a copy of the content on the nearest server is returned to the user when they visit the website. This helps to reduce end-user connection time to data.

Just accessing a website just to transfer money to your child's school but taking 15-20 seconds to load a page is meaningless. Do you know how much the thegioididong's e-commerce sites need to spend on the dev team every year to keep the homepage loading speed under 2s even though there are a lot of images and information?

=> A lot of money and they always know that only speed and performance can create buying opportunities from customers.

And CDN was born to ensure such high performance.

Initially, the CDN stub was only for content caching. With the advancement of technology, CDN becomes a feature part of application acceleration.

In addition to CDN, there are technologies such as: Automatic image size reduction on websites. Optimize CSS source code, optimize Javascript speed. All of these combine to form a single service: Application Accelerator Service (Layer 7)

Cloudflare's CDN is in the suite Application Acceleration and Security is built according to the Top-Down model according to the content's request. In Viet Nam , Cloudflare built 4 POPs in all and they have 2 POPs available at FPT Telecom in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh. Two POPs in Vietnam it will be in Region Singapore and is Lower Tier according to the model diagram, Singapore will have Upper Tier.

So how does Origin Server, Upper Tier and Lower Tier work?

For example:

Black Pink just released a new music video in the Korean region. (Origin Server) A super fan in Vietnam (*Green stream of Client 1*) start selecting to watch the MV immediately. At that time, the entire Upper and Lower Tier did not have time to cache the content. Upper Tier will now duplicate the content requested for the first time between the US and Singapore. Afterward Upper Tier will be returned to the Lower Tier in Vietnam. Then Client 1 will be able to watch the MV with super sharp quality, full without covering.

The second super fan appeared and also watched Black Pink's MV (*Purple stream of Client 2*) At that time, Cloudflare will check in the Upper Tier to see if the file is there. Well, they found it to be available at Lower Tier and MV will be loaded immediately at domestic infrastructure using NIX line.

Thus, the same content but will not have to spend too much bandwidth to move. At the same time, the content will also be stored closest to the user, maximum performance, minimal latency and costs will not be overwhelmed by international bandwidth. Both suppliers and customers benefit.

Above is an overview of the CDN and a specific example of the solution of Cloudflare CDN.

To learn about Cloudflare x FTI, readers can visit at: https://fptcloudhub.io/en/cloud-cdn

About FPT Telecom International

Established on May 22, 2008, FPT International Telecom is a member company of FPT Telecom.

Inheriting the experience and infrastructure of the parent company - FPT Telecom, one of the leading telecommunications service providers in Vietnam, FPT Telecom International has operated independently since the beginning of 2008 and is now considered a one of the leading reliable service providers in Vietnam.

FTI is one of the most comprehensive and widely applied IT and Cloud service providers in Vietnam, providing a full range of services nationwide. Thousands of customers – including the fastest growing startups, largest enterprises and leading government agencies – use FPT International Telecom to optimize costs, become more agile and innovate faster.