What is multi-CDN?

Multi-Content Delivery Network (CDN) uses multiple content delivery networks to deliver content to end-users. A CDN is a network of geographically distributed servers that work together to deliver web content, such as videos, images and other static or dynamic content, to users around the globe.

What makes DigiCert Constellix Multi-CDN different?

With DigiCert Constellix DNS’ Multi-CDN, instead of relying on a single CDN provider, multiple CDN providers are used to serve content to end-users. This improves content delivery performance and reliability by distributing traffic across multiple CDN providers and their respective networks.

By utilizing multiple CDNs, a website or application can take advantage of the strengths and unique features of each provider, such as network coverage, server locations, caching capabilities and pricing models. This approach can also help mitigate the impact of CDN outages, network congestion and other issues that can affect the availability and speed of content delivery.

With DigiCert Constellix Multi-CDN, your organization does not need a CDN aggregator or multi-CDN provider to get started. Just use your DNS provider (hopefully DigiCert DNS) and enjoy complete control through a single interface. With our multi-CDN management solution, your business will be the fastest and enjoy 100% uptime across the globe. Constellix uses real-time machine learning to dynamically route traffic to the best CDN per user.

How does multi-CDN work?

Step 1: DNS lookup
A user makes a query for www.exampledomain.com and the DNS provider answers with www record. In this case, the www record is a CNAME to a pool of multiple hostnames, each for different CDN providers.

Step 2: Smart CDN decisions
The DNS provider uses internal logic to decide which CDN hostname to return. The decision can be based on hostname availability, response time, the location of the user, the user’s network or a combination of these factors.

Step 3: Best hostname chosen
The best hostname for that user is returned to the resolving nameserver, which resolves the CNAME record, allowing the user to connect to the CDN and load the desired website files. ‍ Provisioned CDN providers We have partnered with several CDN providers to become fully integrated, making the multi-CDN process seamless. It is important to know that DigiCert Constellix DNS work with any CDN provider. During setup, simply choose “custom provider” to complete the process.

DigiCert Constellix Multi-CDN implementation techniques

1. DNS-based load balancing: This is where DNS resolution is used to distribute traffic to different CDN providers based on network proximity or other chosen criteria.
2. Multi-CDN switching: This is where an application or website can switch between different CDN providers based on real-time monitoring of performance metrics, such as latency, throughput and error rates.

Benefits of multi-CDN in 2023

There are several benefits to using a multi-CDN strategy for content delivery. One of the most significant advantages is improved reliability and redundancy. By using multiple CDNs, a company can ensure that their content is always available, even if one of the CDNs experiences a failure. This can be especially important for companies that rely heavily on online content delivery, such as e-commerce sites or media companies.

Another advantage of multi-CDN is improved performance. By distributing content across multiple CDNs, companies can reduce latency and improve load times for users. This can be particularly important for companies that serve customers in different regions of the world, as different CDNs may perform better in different geographic regions.

Finally, multi-CDN can help to reduce costs. By using multiple CDNs, companies can take advantage of competitive pricing and negotiate better rates for their content delivery services. Also, load balancing across multiple CDNs can help reduce the overall cost of content delivery by distributing traffic across multiple providers.

Challenges of multi-CDN

While there are many benefits to using a multi-CDN strategy, there are a few challenges that companies may face. One of the biggest challenges is managing multiple providers. Companies need to manage multiple contracts, SLAs, and have the budget to allow for multiple CDN providers. These challenges will vary based on the organization, but they are all easy to work around.

Multi-CDN use case examples

Geographic diversity: By using multiple CDNs, a website can ensure that its content is distributed from multiple locations around the world. This helps to reduce latency and improve the user experience for visitors who are located far from the website's primary server location.

Redundancy: If one CDN experiences an outage or performance issue, a website can quickly switch to another CDN to ensure that its content remains available to users.

Affordability: When your business uses more than one CDN provider, you can stay within your budget and reduce overall costs. Additionally, by distributing traffic across multiple CDNs, a website can avoid overloading any single CDN and incurring additional fees for excessive bandwidth usage.

Ultimate Security: A multi-CDN approach can improve security by providing redundancy and protection against DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service) attacks. If one CDN is attacked, a website can quickly switch to another CDN to mitigate the attack.

Content optimization: By using multiple CDNs, a website can distribute several types of content across different CDNs based on their strengths. For example, one CDN may be better suited for streaming video, while another CDN may be better suited for delivering static content like images and JavaScript files.

Why implement multi-CDN?

When businesses implement a multi-CDN strategy, it can significantly improve website performance and user experience. By distributing content across multiple CDN providers, you can mitigate the risk of downtime, reduce latency and increase the availability of your website. Additionally, with the flexibility to switch CDN providers and adjust traffic distribution based on real-time analytics, you can optimize costs and performance even further.

If you are interested in taking your website's performance to the next level, consider implementing a multi-CDN strategy and see the difference it can make for your business. Sign up for a personalized demo today to see how DigiCert Constellix DNS can transform your user experience.