A **Content Delivery Network (CDN)** is a system of distributed servers that helps deliver web content—like images, videos, stylesheets, and JavaScript files—to users based on their geographic location. The main goal of a CDN is to **reduce latency** and **speed up load times** by serving content from the server closest to the user. This is especially useful for websites with a global audience, as it ensures a smooth experience no matter where visitors are located. When you use a CDN, your static assets (such as CSS, fonts, or media files) are cached on multiple servers around the world. So, instead of every request going back to your origin server, the CDN serves the cached version from the nearest **edge server**. This not only improves performance but also **reduces bandwidth costs** and helps protect against traffic spikes or DDoS attacks. ### <br>How Do You Use a CDN? To start using a CDN, you typically: 1. **Choose a CDN provider** (like Cloudflare, Akamai, Amazon CloudFront, or Fastly). 2. **Upload your static files** to the CDN or configure it to pull content from your origin server. 3. **Update your website’s links** to point to the CDN URLs instead of local ones. For example, if your website loads a local JavaScript file like this: ```html <script src="/js/script.js"></script> ``` You’d replace it with the CDN-hosted version: ```html <script src="https://cdn.yourprovider.com/js/script.js"></script> ``` Some CDNs also offer **auto-minification, image optimization, and security features** like SSL encryption and bot protection. Many modern platforms (WordPress, Shopify, etc.) have built-in CDN integrations, making setup even easier. If you’re using a service like **Cloudflare**, you might just need to update your domain’s nameservers—no code changes required. For custom setups, you may need to adjust cache headers or configure rules for dynamic content. In short, a CDN is a **powerful tool** for optimizing website performance, and integrating one can be as simple as updating a few file paths or as advanced as fine-tuning cache policies for maximum efficiency.