What is the Difference Between DNS and CDN?
Written By
Ananya Kandpal
Reading time: 5 minutes
Have you ever wondered how a website loads quickly, irrespective of where you are? Or how typing in a domain name accurately takes you to the right website?
Not yet? No worries, here you will know who exists behind the scenes.
DNS and CDN, yes, you’ve read right. These two unsung heroes are hard at work.
They might sound the same, but they serve almost different objectives. Let’s understand it with an example
Suppose you are visiting a website, like ordering food at a restaurant. The DNS is your waiter; it takes your order(the domain name) and brings you the correct meal (the IP address). The CDN, on the other hand, is the kitchen chain that ensures your meal is cooked and delivered from the nearest kitchen.
What is DNS? And How Does it Work?
The Domain Name System (DNS) refers to the phonebook of the Internet. Users access information online via domain names. Web browsers interact through Internet Protocol addresses. DNS translates domain names to IP addresses so browsers can load Internet resources. It works as a distributed database and naming system, offering a way to associate domain names, such as www.example.com, with their corresponding IP addresses, like 192.0.2.1.
The process of DNS resolution consists of changing a hostname like www.example.com into a computer-friendly IP address (192.168.1.1). An IP address is given to every device on the Internet, and that address is crucial to finding the accurate Internet device, like a street address, which is used to find a particular home.
What is CDN, and how does it work?
A content delivery network, abbreviated as CDN, refers to a network of geographically distributed servers designed to optimize the delivery of web content. It comprises images, videos, scripts, and other assets for users based on their location. CDN is used to refine website performance, decrease latency, improve scalability, and offer a better user experience.
In order to lessen the physical distance between the users and the hosting server, the CDN keeps cached versions of the original content in different geographical locations, which are called Points of Presence. Every PoP is situated to serve the users nearby.
In this way, as a user, you don’t need to connect to the accurate source(the original server). The CDN will direct you to the closest connected server on the network, and you will get the cached version of the original version.
Key Benefits of DNS and CDN
| Benefits | DNS | CDN |
|---|---|---|
| Easy Website Access |
Changes human-readable domain names into IP addresses |
Offers content from the closest server to users |
| Load Distribution |
Divided requests across different DNS servers for efficiency |
Balances load across global edge servers to skip traffic congestion |
| High-Availability |
Redundant DNS servers certify uptime even if one server fails |
Keep websites available during peak traffic or DDoS attacks |
| Faster Domain Resolution |
Decreases lookup time with caching and optimized routing |
Decreases latency and page load times significantly |
| Flexibility & Control |
Allow you to manage subdomains, redirect traffic, and use custom records |
Allows caching, compression, and content optimization for better performance. |
Differentiate Between DNS and CDN
| Aspect | DNS | CDN |
|---|---|---|
| Objective |
It converts domain names to IP addresses for routing traffic to the correct server |
Optimizes content delivery by caching and serving resources from geographically distributed servers. |
| Primary Functionality |
Concentrates on locating the server hosting the website |
Concentrates on offering content instantly and decreasing latency |
| Scope |
Works as a directory for the Internet |
Improves user experience by elevating website performance |
| Geographical Impact |
Generally does not consider the user’s geographic location |
Prefers location-based routing to serve content from the closest server |
| Load Management |
Allocate traffic among different servers for redundancy |
Managed large traffic volumes effectively with caching and load balancing |
| Integration |
Acts at the domain level to route traffic to hosting environments |
Works in tandem with hosting to certify easy content delivery |
Why DNS and CDN are Crucial for Hosting?
When it comes to DNS and CDN, both play a vital role in boosting the performance and scalability of web hosting environments. It ensures high availability by logically routing traffic to alternative servers in the event of a failure, overcoming downtime. It also supports complex hosting architectures, like as multi-server environments, by directing users to the most accurate server based on configuration and location.
On the other hand, a CDN not only speeds up load times but also increases the entire performance of websites, whether hosted on shared, VPS, or dedicated servers. CDNs are crucial for managing global traffic effectively and providing an easy user experience across different regions. ‘
Thus, as DNS and CDN act as different objectives, they work together to ensure effective content delivery and optimal performance. DNS manages the routing of traffic to the accurate server, while CDN enhances content delivery by decreasing latency and load on the hosting server. Knowing the differences between DNS and CDN is vital for building a solid web infrastructure, whether you depend on colocation, cloud, or traditional hosting setups.