By caching key data at points of presence (PoPs) strategically located near regional Internet Exchange Points (IXPs), content delivery networks (CDNs) reduce latency to drive benefits including better customer experiences, reduced costs through improved bandwidth management, and improved stability of web applications and sites. Additionally, CDN providers like StackPath include security and control features that offer protection for web app/site users and the organizations that run them.
As the use cases below demonstrate, these benefits are essential for businesses ranging from small retailers to global technology service providers.
Efficient delivery of key data can make or break the viability of a technology service. The right CDN is an essential tool for ensuring a high quality user experience while carefully managing bandwidth costs. Meanwhile, startup services need the ability to use a CDN to scale up their business without becoming hemmed in by a costly annual contract.
Castos, a small startup that operates a podcast hosting platform for WordPress, is a great example of this. Castos began by acquiring an existing WordPress podcasting platform with a strong user base. They sought to monetize this popular plugin by offering integrated file storage and delivery. Podcasters could use this all-in-one solution to deliver their content without needing to manage a third-party storage/delivery solution.
Castos chose Amazon S3 as an origin server but understood from the outset that using a CDN would be essential for making this model work. The right CDN was needed to not only optimize podcast download speed and reliability but ensure a pricing model aligned to their business needs. As a startup with zero existing customers Castos needed a CDN that would avoid pricing lock-in and upfront costs. They selected StackPath’s CDN that offers a flat-rate, pay-as-you-go pricing model, which is suiting them well as they now deliver over 165 terabytes of audio content each month.
Ultimately, StackPath’s CDN allowed Castos to avoid any cost overages, keeping their CDN spend closely tied to real revenue growth. And, with the seamless scalability of StackPath’s CDN, Castos has a smooth runway for continued global growth. Meanwhile, StackPath’s CDN utilizes an optimized network and peering strategy to minimize bandwidth costs—in this case reducing S3 egress charges by 30%.
Learn More: Turning a Simple WordPress Plugin Into a Profitable Business
E-commerce allows retailers of any size to offer their products to customers across the globe. But supporting a high quality e-commerce experience for a global audience requires the performance and scalability offered by a CDN. The right CDN will combine these advantages with the security needed to ward off threats like DDoS attacks.
The personalized online jewelry retailer Safyre Labs (formerly Jewlr) provides an instructive example. This fast growing company needed a CDN to ensure a seamless customer experience for 1,000 daily customers spread across North America, the UK, and Australia. Their initial platform relied on distributing assets directly from web servers, but this approach was no longer keeping pace with the rapid growth of their customer base.
StackPath’s CDN took on the responsibility of delivering assets across all local web domains and a separate checkout server. By positioning key assets like images, video, JavaScript, and CSS at the edge, StackPath’s CDN ensures a high quality customer experience. The inclusion of a Web Application Firewall (WAF) helps simplify security administration, too. Safyre engineers don’t have to manage security settings for individual servers. And StackPath’s CDN analyzes incoming traffic for potential DDoS attacks, challenging incoming traffic if necessary to block threats to performance.
Learn More: Delivering Fast and Secure E-Commerce for 1,000 Daily Customers
Leading video content publishers face an immense challenge developing high quality video streaming offerings. Competing in this space means delivering content that can compete with digital media giants like Netflix and YouTube—companies that already extensively leverage CDNs to produce a great video experience.
Mux works to help other publishers deliver high quality video content by providing an integrated hosting/streaming/delivery bundle designed from the ground up to be developer friendly. Accessible through a single integrated API, Mux provides everything its clients need to offer premium quality video streaming services—and it depends on StackPath’s CDN to ensure high performance, complete parameter control, and a service that’s resilient and adaptable in the face of network disruptions.
With StackPath as a CDN provider, Mux meets and exceeds industry-leading performance standards while retaining full control over content and reporting across a global network.
Learn More: Democratizing High Quality Video Streaming for Publishers
