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CDNs aren't just for caching

jvns.ca · 1,468 words · saved by 1 readers

CDNs aren't just for caching

I joined the infrastructure team at work this week! So I've been learning a bunch of new things. Today I learned a ton about what CDNs are for. A CDN is a "content delivery network" - the idea is that you're a website and you have some Fancy Javascript File that you want people everywhere in the world to download. No problem. That is what the internet is for. But you are in New York, and the speed of light is slow (really!), and you are trying to send the javascript file to Sydney - that's 16,000 km away, which is 50ms at the speed of light, or a 100ms round trip. With a bad mobile connection

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