Using Content Delivery Networks (CDN) For HD Streaming

Video broadcasting has become one of the powerful tools for businesses of all scales. But not every video is able to attract equal attention. There can be two reasons behind this. first, the company might have a smaller number of followers and second, the quality of the video would be inconsistent. For the first problem, there are several measures and promotional activities that the business can undertake. However, when the number of followers and viewers would increase with time, the second problem becomes more severe. It is because HD streaming also depends on the number and distance of viewers. So, to resolve it, Content Delivery Networks (CDN) are used.

Here we will discuss all the details about CDN, and how it can benefit businesses. Let’s start with formal definitions.

Content Delivery Networks (CDN)

As the name says, CDN is the networks used for delivering web content from the generator to the users. What makes CDN different from other general systems is the factor that it includes dispersed servers that help in HD streaming of content. It is most beneficial for global websites that have a considerable amount of visitors. A single server is not able to handle all that received traffic. So multiple servers disperse the content all around the globe. The three factors that decide content delivery are:

  • The place from where the content has originated
  • The server used to deliver the content
  • The geographic location of the user that is accessing the content

Through these three points, the network decides which server would be delivering the content to a specific user, and provides it in the best available quality.

Working: For people who are familiar with the operation of e-commerce delivery systems, CDN would be easy to understand. The moment a user requests for a particular piece of web content, they get connected to the nearest CDN edge server. Then that server checks if it has the requested content in its cache or not. If the content is available, it sends it directly. Else, it inquires further to other servers for forwarding that content.

The interesting part of this is that no request goes directly to the central server of the website/content origin. All the servers try to connect themselves with their nearest servers for any content request. As the content is requested from nearby servers, the user experiences fast and better streaming. Also, once a server receives a piece of information, it saves it in its cache memory for future usage.

Advantages Of CDN

Now that people know how CDN works, it is time to move on to the benefits that they can obtain by implementing this tech in their content delivery system. Here are some of the most significant ones.

Faster Delivery

As mentioned above, CDN includes dispersed servers, and a user receives content from their nearby servers only. So, it provides speedier processing and content delivery, creating a better user experience. Also, experts recommend establishing more servers in the areas where there is more target audience available. If businesses placed their servers in irrelevant places, it would be of no use.

HD Streaming

Even with the fast speed, CDN does not compromise on the quality of the content. It receives the data in the best available quality from the central server and provides the same to the user. So no matter if the user is accessing only the website or some large-sized video content, they will receive HD streaming of it.

Backup And Security

Having all the content saved on multiple servers is the best backup policy any business can undertake. With CDN, it becomes easily possible. So even if something fails, they will always have their data saved somewhere. Also, most of the CDNs add an extra level of safety for the content it delivers, which is a plus point for all businesses.

Scalable Servers

As said earlier, when the number of followers starts to rise, the problem of HD streaming becomes visible. This is where CDN stands better as it can easily handle sudden traffic towards the content. That makes it more reliable and efficient for content delivery.

Conclusion

Every other business is providing its users with the best possible content. If a company wants to stand out in this competition, their only way out is HD streaming using CDN. With this, they can create a better user experience and can make their content as well as service better than others.

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