Introduction
In this article, we will explore Microsoft Azure CDN, its features, and when to use it.
Prerequisites
Before we start with the overview of Microsoft Azure content delivery network (CDN), we should have:
Background
In this article, we will explore what is Microsoft Azure CDN, its features, and when to use it.
Before we look into it, let’s understand ‘what is CDN?’,
- In an internet Web application, we face multiple challenges related to latency issues.
- There needs to be more of a focus on new implementation to minimize the latency to render the content on site.
- There are multiple ways around it. One way is to utilize the ‘Content Delivery Network – CDN’.
- CDN is a distributed network of servers that can efficiently deliver web content to users.
- CDN stores the cached content on servers in point of presence location (POP) which is closer to the user.
Introduction of Microsoft Azure CDN
- Microsoft Azure CDN works on the same model as explained above.
- Azure CDN rapidly delivers the content by caching its physical nodes across the world.
Image Source – Microsoft Docs
- Azure can also serve the dynamic content too like shopping cart, search results which are not cached by using dynamic site acceleration (DSA)
- To start to utilize these features, you must have at least one Azure subscription and a CDN profile.
- CDN profile is a collection of endpoints that have configurations of content delivery and access.
- Please note that Azure pricing is based on the CDN profile.
- It is best for...
- Application having multiple rounds of trips to the servers
- Serves the content from the edge server which minimizes the load on origin server with less traffic.
- Delivering static content such as images, videos, style sheets, client-side scripts, and HTML pages to reduce latency
Features
- We can configure custom HTTPS domains on Azure CDN for robust security.
- Azure diagnostics logs allow you to export basic usage metrics from your CDN endpoint.
- It has integration with other Azure resources like web apps, media storages, blob, event hubs, log monitoring, etc.
- We can enable the compression of files in Azure CDN to improve the performance.
- It has a massive capacity, with its global presence to handle heavy loads and sudden traffic rise.
- Azure CDN integrates with services from Akamai and Verizon, enabling customers to select the right solution for their needs.
- Azure CDN has API’s to consume it and do further analytics.
- Azure prices – pay as you use, no upfront and termination fees.
Reference Links
- https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/cdn/
- https://azure.microsoft.com/en-in/services/cdn/
- https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/cdn/cdn-overview
- https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/cdn/cdn-custom-ssl?tabs=option-1-default-enable-https-with-a-cdn-managed-certificate
- https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/cdn/cdn-azure-diagnostic-logs
- https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/cdn/cdn-improve-performance
- https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/pricing/details/cdn/
- Azure CDN Pricing
Conclusion
In this article, we have learned the overview of Microsoft Azure CDN, its services and when to use it.