Cloud or CDN Hosting: Which one is better?

All businesses seek efficiency in their operations and they want better connectivity and speed between their end-users and their services. For example, where ecommerce firms are concerned, they can communicate with their buyers only through websites. So, it is absolutely imperative for them to ensure that the site loads fast enough for customers to get an excellent user experience.

Cloud hosting technologies strive to guarantee an enhanced user experience for your customers because they offer on-demand resource scalability. Similarly, the CDN or Content Delivery Network hosting services also work towards improving website performance. This network of servers aims to deliver content faster to end-users by ensuring that there are multiple Points of Presence. This means that whenever content is requested, the edge server which is closest to the user will respond to the request. Each of these remote servers has cached content which can be delivered when requested for. So, technically speaking, both the cloud and CDN basically work towards the same end.

Which is Better: the Cloud or the CDN?

- One of the important parameters which can help you understand which is better for your site, CDN or cloud, is latency. This means that when a site takes exceptionally long to load, a visitor will navigate away from it. So, website loading speed and customer satisfaction are proportionately related. This problem is best tackled by CDN hosting solutions. Here, static content is present in multiple edge-servers and therefore, whenever the user requests for content, the server nearest to him will send the content. This reduces latency.

- In terms of performance, both the cloud and CDN can enhance site performance. They will successfully do away with down-times and latency issues, ensuring data availability at all times. However, while the CDN is mainly used for storage and can send static content only, cloud hosting delivers more than just content. The cloud is a scalable platform which can provide users with resources whenever they need them.

- Finally, in terms of cost, CDN hosting will be typically offered as part of some other hosting package whereas cloud services have to be bought separately. So, CDN hosting is sometimes free or can be got for nominal fees. The cloud may be expensive but you only pay for resources you use and nothing extra.

When you distribute content online, CDN hosting is best for you but for overall site performance, the cloud is indispensable.

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