Consumers might not realize it, but their internet experience is highly dependent on networks of servers called CDNs, or Content Delivery Networks. CDN servers consist of a network connected to different Points of Presence (PoPs) around the world, and—as their name suggests—are designed to deliver content to end users as quickly as possible. They function by minimizing the distance that data needs to travel to best distribute a user’s traffic quickly and efficiently, according to their request.
Historically, the best CDN providers have been focused on specific geographic regions, like Western Europe or the United States. Today, however, more companies are beginning to take a multi-CDN approach.
At a basic level, multi-CDNs are two or more CDNs aggregated into a single system. When a request comes in from an end user, a multi-CDN system can automatically determine which of its CDNs provides the fastest route—broadening coverage areas while reducing overhead. The result is a more robust, better-optimized content delivery system, which many businesses are finding indispensable for their increasingly globalized customer base.
Business Development Manager at Leaseweb.
Single-CDN vs. Multi-CDN
For businesses contemplating whether to choose a single-CDN vs. multi-CDN approach, their decision will potentially come down to the type of content they are trying to deliver. The key concept at play here is static versus dynamic.
Dynamic content—for instance, fluctuating ecommerce or live-streaming platform offerings—can typically be effectively delivered through single-CDN approaches. Some multi-CDN providers have a switching layer that continuously switches between the CDNs in their mix. Decisions are then made based on performance to change content delivery providers for a better result for the client. Although this can occasionally create issues for an end user watching a live stream, in most cases it does not.
Nevertheless, as the digital landscape shifts toward more dynamic content, vast swathes of internet content remain static. Static content (e.g. images, CSS files, data objects, JavaScript, and prerecorded videos) change infrequently, making it perfectly suited for high-performance multi-CDN distribution. For example, the AdTech and MarTech industries often depend on multi-CDNs for banners and other pre-rendered content that remains consistent for all end users.
Since the content doesn’t change, it simplifies delivery and allows it to load faster from any geographic caching point. Additionally, many streaming platforms offer static, “on-demand videos”, which can also benefit from multi-CDNs. By caching content across multiple CDNs in a coordinated way, multi-CDNs reduce the number of requests that need to be made to the media’s origin server, reducing traffic costs from both an ingress and egress perspective.
In all these cases, multi-CDNs can route traffic to the best-performing CDN, based on their region and request, to reduce latency and improve the user experience. In comparison to a single-CDN, global providers who offer multi-CDN solutions can all but guarantee uptime, availability, and reliability—if one CDN has an outage or has performance issues, another can take over to ensure continuous availability.
For organizations with a global customer base, multi-CDNs offer a better experience for end users, delivering content quickly from the geographically closest node, providing the most efficient path – especially when compared to a region with some hyperscalers’ – irrelevant of their location. Moreover, for organizations aiming to futureproof and remain competitive, prioritizing speed and efficiency has become essential—particularly as the world becomes driven by AI technologies.
Multi-CDNs in an AI World
AI has been integrated into almost every application. This has, inevitably, created a demand for high availability—one that multi-CDN strategies are uniquely well-equipped to meet.
AI solutions depend on high-quality data and content to succeed. These foundational elements provide the context necessary for AI to generate accurate and relevant outputs. While not dependent on multi-CDNs, AI models leverage them to retrieve data more quickly from the nearest server, delivering dynamic content with high speeds and low latency.
It is important to note that AI has also raised users’ digital expectations. Consumers now require faster, more accurate, and more relevant results across their digital experience. Thus, any solution within one’s portfolio must match the speed and capabilities of AI technology. Multi-CDNs are also able to rise to this challenge by delivering dynamic content with higher speeds and lower latency, ultimately expanding global reach, and enhancing the user experience.
In addition to being delivered faster, content is also delivered more reliably. Most organizations that deploy single-CDN technology, of course, have a back-up provider in place in case the first one goes down. However, spinning up that second provider can take a long time—potentially frustrating customers and damaging business operations. However, there are various types of Multi-CDNs, including configurations of multiple single CDNs.
In some cases, a valuable switching layer is added, enabling real-time delivery optimization by dynamically switching between CDNs every second based on performance. This approach is particularly beneficial in environments where it eliminates the spin-up time required for a secondary CDN, while ensuring seamless and uninterrupted content delivery. Meanwhile, additional content caching can be accomplished, further reducing the cost of traffic both to and from its origin.
While AI does not rely directly on using multiple CDNs, the infrastructure that supports AI services—such as content delivery, data storage, and real-time inference—works better with a multi-CDN approach. By pooling the strengths of multiple individual CDN providers into one optimized system, it ensures a level of redundancy and reliability that no single CDN could possibly offer on its own.
Choosing a Multi-CDN Provider
Over the years, many organizations have turned to hyperscalers for their computing and storage needs. While these companies offer a wide array of resources, they have a dominant status in the market; and therefore, have been able to charge what some would argue are excessively high fees.
These providers will usually offer credits to welcome new buyers to their platforms, but they often do not extend a tiered or competitive price point once those credits expire, leaving organizations in a tight financial bind. The result is that companies will jump from provider to provider using up free credits, before seeking out a more cost-effective option. Additionally, hyperscalers often deploy multiple single-CDNs instead of a multi-CDN, leaving their users vulnerable to down-time and lost revenue.
As strategies shifted, enterprise to SMB organizations have begun to implement their own solutions involving multiple single-CDN providers. However, the challenges involved with this are often significant, thus creating a need for multi-CDN providers. Leading multi-CDN providers emerge as significant disruptors in this space by offering CDN services that compete with the hyperscalers’ – at a lower cost and with improved performance and reliability.
Where to Go from Here
CDNs are designed to deliver content as quickly as possible. With the modern internet user, there are more dynamic expectations of the digital experience that multi-CDNs are better equipped to handle, especially with AI-based services and performance.
Organizations should strongly consider integrating a multi-CDN approach with a provider who can increase efficiency, uptime, availability, and speed with a global network. While a multi-CDN approach will not fit every scenario, more businesses are finding that the ease, flexibility, and scale vastly exceed those of traditional single-CDNs for a wide variety of use cases and workloads.
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