CDN stands for content delivery network in which there a farm of servers separated geographically which helps in faster organizing, storing, and streaming web site content (images, text, video and other static content) to end-users. Rather than serving content directly from the host server to the end-user, the Content Delivery Network moves the content source from the host server to a node that is geographically closer to the end-user. This minimizes the distance the data has to travel, avoiding network traffic jams, and decreasing latency.

Key Benefits of a Content Delivery Network:

A. High-Quality Content and Media Rich Web Sites:

CDN places content as close to the end-user as possible, making downloading, streaming, and web site load times faster and more consistent. This allows web sites to include richer, more creative content without sacrificing performance.

B. Broader Geographic Reach:

CDN pushes content to server nodes placed around the world, optimizing the speed and reliability of content delivery to end-users regardless of location. This is especially advantageous as Internet subscriber rates continue to increase globally.

C. Cost-Effective, Performance-Neutral Scalability:

CDN spreads its workload over multiple servers in diverse locations, so increases in content demand does not slow down or compromise delivery.

What are the advantages of using CDN over standard Internet content delivery?

CDN delivers content more efficiently than standard Internet content delivery, letting businesses meet the growing demand for rich, online media that require large bandwidths. Standard Internet delivery sends content data over general Internet routes from the host server’s location to the end-user’s location. This takes into account neither the host server’s proximity to the end-user, nor possible traffic jams between the two. CDN, however, moves the content from the host server to a node that is geographically closer to the end-user. This avoids potential network congestion and decreases latency, increasing delivery speed and providing consistent and reliable file transfer times. In addition, as a solution created specifically for content delivery, CDN includes tools that provide more content management and delivery control, helping with content monetization.

Who should be using a CDN?

CDN is ideal for any company or individual that wants to make content available on the Internet, particularly those with sites that utilize caching, streaming, and downloading services. This includes a wide variety of industries and applications, including:

• Social Networking
• Gaming
• E-commerce
• Entertainment
• Software Development
• Financial Services

Content Formats:

Formats for Streaming Media

• Windows Media Player
• Flash Media

Formats for Progressive Downloads

• Windows Media Player
• Flash Media
• DivX
• H.264
• Move Media Player
• Microsoft Silverlight
• QuickTime
• MP3
• RealSystem G2
• RealPlayer
• Real Networks
• HTML
• TXT
• GIF
• JPG
• PDF

Supported Delivery Protocols

• HTTP
• RTMP
• MMS

Diadem Technologies in association with Softlayer Technologies Inc. is providing Content delivery services to its clients for their richmedia  and streaming media applications.