When you want to improve website performance, there are many different configurations and facilities to consider, and CDN and ADN are just one of several options that we often come across. "CDN" refers to "Content Distribution Network", while "ADN" refers to "Application Delivery Network", but they are easily confused. Although their functions and functions are quite different, many people still don't understand The difference between them is that many people mistake ADN for CDN. This has to do with the fact that many people use "CDN" as a broad catch-all term (which includes ADNs).
Similarities and differences between C DN and A DN ?
Content Delivery Network ( CDN for short ) . The basic idea is to avoid bottlenecks and links on the Internet that may affect the speed and stability of data transmission as much as possible, so as to make content transmission faster and more stable. By placing node servers all over the network to form a layer of intelligent virtual network based on the existing Internet, the CDN system can real-time according to the network traffic and the connection of each node, the load status, the distance to the user and the response time and other comprehensive information to redirect the user's request to the service node closest to the user. Its purpose is to enable users to obtain the required content nearby, solve the congestion situation of the Internet network, and improve the response speed of users' access to websites.
Simply put, content distribution network is a strategically deployed overall system, including four requirements of distributed storage, load balancing, network request redirection and content management, while content management and global network traffic management are the core of CDN where. By judging by user proximity and server load, CDN ensures that content is served to user requests in an extremely efficient manner.
Application Delivery Network (ADN for short) . It uses corresponding network optimization/acceleration equipment to ensure that users' business applications can be delivered to internal employees and external service groups quickly, safely and reliably. From the definition, we can see that the purpose of application delivery is to ensure the reliability, availability and security of key business of the enterprise. Application delivery should be the same goal of various technologies, such as WAN acceleration, load balancing, web application firewall... There are different product support and emphases for different application requirements.
Because application delivery is a system solution that associates key applications with basic network equipment, application delivery (ADC) has attracted great attention from traditional network technology vendors as market awareness gradually increases. ADC is an upgrade and extension of traditional network load balancing. It is a comprehensive delivery platform device that integrates load balancing, TCP optimization management, link management, SSL VPN, compression optimization, intelligent network address translation, advanced routing, and intelligent A comprehensive platform of various technical means such as port mirroring. Enterprises increasingly rely on advanced application delivery network solutions to ensure full IT flexibility in today's ever-changing business environment by providing scalable security, high availability and optimization on a scalable ADC platform. The main customer groups in China's application delivery market are distributed in industries such as finance, telecommunications, and the Internet, as well as large and medium-sized IT companies. These customers mostly rely on advanced IT technologies to support business operations and various customer services.
CDNs and ADNs have a lot in common, including performance, on-demand pricing, security, and availability. They also share many technologies, including TCP optimization, load balancing, and caching. From these dimensions, the line between CDN and ADN is indeed very blurred.
But despite the overlap in functionality, it's important to understand the differences between the two.
A CDN works by caching frequently accessed digital content at geographically distributed edge locations, so that when a client browser requests cached content, it can access it from the closest edge location. By utilizing these edge locations in strategic geographic patterns, static websites will see significant performance improvements.
But for remote applications accessed over the public internet, this caching of content at the edge does not yield the same performance improvement. In contrast, an ADN is a combination of features that provide application availability, security, visibility, and acceleration. ADN works with dynamic remote applications that require the transfer of real-time data, analytics, and user preferences between the application server and client. Since each client has different data, each request is fetched from the origin server, remote applications also require intelligent traffic monitoring and management solutions to distribute network traffic across multiple servers.
Because there are indeed many similar functions between the two, Huosanyun will explain the differences between them through two well-known APP applications:
ADN product scenario application : Didi Taxi
Didi is the largest ride-sharing service provider in my country, and all orders are managed by mobile apps/mini-programs. Didi Taxi’s APP has occupied more than 60% of the ride-sharing market in my country, completing more than 750 million online ride-hailing orders every month.
Didi relies heavily on ADN for acceleration. To ensure their data is delivered quickly and securely, ADN transfers real-time data between application servers and clients. Didi uses ADN to evenly distribute the data load on multiple domestic servers, thereby reducing server delays. At the same time, since the load can be distributed to multiple servers, the possibility of any one server being overloaded is greatly reduced.
Scenario application of CDN products : Toutiao
Jinri Toutiao is one of the major news websites in China, with more than 300 million monthly visits. Jinri Toutiao relies on CDN to provide content to readers across the country or even around the world. A CDN is designed to support basic content like HTML, CSS, JS, photos, and videos. News organizations, magazines, and corporate websites are often filled with this content without any interactive features/apps. Therefore, a CDN can handle any amount of traffic by using a point of presence (PoP) to mirror static content at the server origin and mirror it closer to the end user.
ADN vs. CDN, which should you use?
After reviewing the above description, deciding whether to use a CDN or an ADN should not be a difficult choice anymore, if your website does not have a large number of interactive functions/applications, then a CDN will be your best choice, not only in terms of performance, but also in terms of Cost-effective aspects of the organization. But if your website is constantly changing or acts as an interactive terminal for web-based functional software, then ADN is a better choice.
No matter which platform you choose, the main consideration in identifying an ADN/CDN vendor is their ability to provide national/global coverage according to your needs, some ADN/CDN vendors perform better in this area, but they may not be able to in another area provide the same performance. So integrating CDN/ADN is a good choice.