Pros and Cons of CDN for WordPress sites

In this post we will be discussing what is CDN and what are it’s various pros and cons of CDN for WordPress sites. Lets start things.

Table of Contents

What is CDN

Pros of CDN

Cons of CDN

Top WordPress CDN provider comparison

What is CDN

Content Delivery Network (CDN) uses various geographically located servers to create a network to provide data across nodes in the most effective manner possible across the globe. Whenever the network encounters a request it is routed to the closest server which increases the page load speeds. A CDN minimizes latency issues, resulting in a better experience for the user.

Pros of CDN

Brings down the server load : Due to the strategic placement of the servers across the globe the size of each request can be taken down by a lot, as the content is spread out on various servers rather than just dumping all the content on one big server.
Decreased Latency and packet data loss : As the various servers are spread out and are near to the prospective user groups, the time taken to complete each request is reduced.
100% site up time : If one of the servers goes down or encounters any problem, this will not lead to the site going down and becoming unavailable. The network would sense this and point the request to the next closest server.
Increased Concurrent Users : Strategical placement of servers can provide a high network backbone capacity, which could mean a higher number of users which can concurrently access the network.

Cons of CDN

Cost : The biggest drawback of CDN is undoubtedly the price factor. A CDN has high setup fees along with other hidden charges, which make it very difficult for a small company to make use of it.
Impractical : The concept of CDn itself is a very complex one by nature and hence it is very difficult to setup and get to work properly all users all across the globe.m Also the maintenance of such a network can be extremely difficult and might require a small team on itself.
No Direct Control : If any changes are to be made to the site, it has to be made through the CDN provider and can not be made directly. This could cause problems for editors and developers.