---
title: "What Is a CDN? Content Delivery Network | Bytes Unlimited"
description: "A CDN (Content Delivery Network) caches your website"
canonical: https://www.bytesunlimited.com/glossary/cdn/
---

 GLOSSARY · Network 

#  Content Delivery Network CDN 

 Global network of cache servers that delivers static content (images, CSS, JavaScript, HTML) from the location closest to each user — speeds up page load and absorbs traffic spikes at the edge. 

## Detailed definition

**Content Delivery Network** is a globally distributed cache layer that sits between your origin server and your visitors. When someone in another part of the country (or world) requests your site, the CDN serves cached copies of static assets from a nearby edge location — typically 10-100 ms instead of 200-500 ms across the country.

## What a CDN actually does

* **Caches static assets** — images, CSS, JavaScript, fonts, sometimes full HTML pages — at hundreds of edge locations
* **Compresses on the fly** — Brotli or gzip for text, modern image formats (WebP, AVIF) for visuals
* **Absorbs traffic spikes** — most requests never reach your origin, so a viral moment doesn’t crush your server
* **Mitigates DDoS** — volumetric attacks get absorbed at the edge network’s massive capacity rather than reaching a single origin
* **Provides analytics** — request volume, geography, bot detection, cache hit ratio
* **TLS termination** — handles HTTPS at the edge, including modern protocols (HTTP/3, post-quantum key exchange) regardless of what your origin supports

## CDN options at SMB scale

* **Cloudflare** — generous free tier, deep WAF + bot management on paid tiers, [our preferred default](/services/cloudflare/)
* **SiteGround built-in CDN** — included with [WordPress hosting plans](/hosting/), works automatically with no setup
* **AWS CloudFront** — tightly integrated with the AWS stack; pay-as-you-go
* **Bunny.net, Fastly, KeyCDN** — alternatives with different pricing and feature mixes

## Beyond performance — why CDN matters for security

A modern CDN is also your first line of network security. Cloudflare in front of an origin server hides the origin IP, terminates TLS, runs the [WAF](/glossary/waf/), challenges suspicious traffic, and absorbs DDoS — all before requests reach your application. For most SMB sites, the CDN does more security work than any other single layer.

HOW WE HELP

## Related Bytes Unlimited services

* [ Cloudflare Cloudflare DNS, WAF, Turnstile, and Workers configuration. CDN + edge security on top of your origin.](/services/cloudflare/)
* [ Hosting Explore this service.](/hosting/)

RELATED TERMS

## See also

* [ WAF ](/glossary/waf/)

##  Need help applying CDN to your business? 

 We've done this kind of work across New York. First conversation is free. 

[ Get In Touch ](/contact/) [ Back to Glossary ](/glossary/)

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