Knowledge MaxxingContent delivery network
A content delivery network stores copies of static content across many geographically distributed servers, serving each user from whichever copy is physically closest to them.
Prerequisite: Static rendering
What matters
Serving from a nearby location reduces the distance data must travel, which is what lets a CDN noticeably speed up loading images, scripts, and other static files worldwide.
Example
A CDN might serve a website's images from a server in Tokyo to a visitor in Japan and from a different server in Germany to a visitor in Europe.
Common misconception
A content delivery network is not typically used for content that changes on every single request; it works best for static or infrequently changing files.
Recall question
Why does serving content from a geographically nearby server improve load time?