Content delivery network

Being able to download content fast will ensure users come back to your website again and again but how do you improve end user response times when your audience is dispersed across the globe?

The answer is a Content Delivery Network (CDN) service.

A Content Delivery Network, or Content Distribution Network, is a collection of web servers located in different places around the world. It works by directing users to local servers where content is cached. The server requests, or visitors, are shared out between servers rather than all directed at the origin server which helps keep your website up and running.

A CDN also improves the user experience because the user downloads content from a server in close proximity to their own physical location, removing the risk of slow website performance caused by latency.

Imagine the release of an eagerly awaited new single, or a new application with a global audience. If the content is only stored in one location then potentially the website will crash when millions of visitors flock to the site within the first hour of availability. If the content is distributed across 5 or maybe 10 different servers, or Points of Presence, then the pressure on the original server is reduced, the user experience is protected and the reputation of the pop star or brand remains intact.

Using NetBenefit’s Content Delivery Network allows you to distribute content more effectively to a geographically spread audience without the investment in a global hosting infrastructure. Companies of all sizes can benefit from our world-class CDN service to effectively deliver digital content and to improve the end user experience. You don’t need to be a world renowned brand. It is cost effective and can be set up in the space of just a few hours.

How does NetBenefit’s Content Delivery Network work?

NetBenefit partners with CDNetworks to provide its Content Delivery Network. It has more than 80 full service POPs in 52 cities across the world providing customers with a global capacity of more than 1,100 Gbps. This ensures that your content and applications can be delivered fast to wherever your users are located.

When a user from a specific region requests the designated content stored on your website for the first time, the caching server will make a HTTP request back to the origin web server and the content will be downloaded. The content is then available on the caching server for any future website visitors close to that server and it is refreshed when new content is available.

Setting up the service is fast and easy. If you already have your content hosted elsewhere then we will set you up with a sub-domain where the content is copied and then distributed across the Content Delivery Network. Alternatively you can choose one of our virtualised or managed servers to host your content for distribution together with any other applications or content.

What other Content Delivery Network services are available?

The standard NetBenefit service includes a number of options to allow you to monetise and protect your content as well as improve the website visitor experience. The available options are as follows:

Progressive download seek
Referrer checking
Cookie handling
URL validation
Basic HTTP authentication
Rewrite rules
Cache controls
Flushing tool

In addition to these standard elements, there are two additional options available to further enhance the CDN service. These are the shielding service and raw log reports.

Shielding service

The shielding service directs users to a Shield POP instead of the origin server or local cache server. The Shield POP is provisioned with extra disk space which improves performance and, therefore, the end user experience. This is perfect for scenarios where you can anticipate which content will be hit the most and where it will occur because you can choose the geographic location of your Shield POP.
A Shield POP can be also pre-populated which means that the first visitors to your site will not experience a delay whilst the content is cached locally. This is important if you are anticipating thousands or even hundreds of thousands of users hitting your website at the same time.

Raw log files

Companies often need critical reporting data for billing purposes, auditing, website content planning and various other reasons. Although summary reports are often sufficient, some companies require log file data to perform their own manipulations or leverage more detailed data. Simply request our log reporting service at the start of your CDN hosting project and you will have all of the data that you require.