Fastly is a US-based cloud computing service provider. It offers an edge cloud platform designed to extend the core cloud infrastructure through its Content Delivery Network (CDN) which is able to reduce the distance content must travel between the server and the requesting user. By reducing the physical distance large files must travel, the reliability and speed of a site can be improved. Fastly also helps distribute the load of the website to different servers and does not rely on any one central server. The edge cloud platform includes cloud security, image optimization, load balancing, and streaming services. Several large companies are using Fastly for their websites, including Shopify, Slack, the Financial Times, and Ticketmaster.
How does Fastly work?
Fastly’s CDN serves severs as an intermediary between servers and users. The goal of services provided by Fastly is to optimize the delivery of the content to the users. The CDN uses caching of content in multiple geographic locations to deliver larger files including images and video to reduce the transit time of the content between the end user. When an end-user sends a request for any content, Fastly uses the closest cache to the user to deliver the content.
How can businesses benefit from using Fastly?
Several types of applications can benefit from Fastly including e-commerce, mobile apps, finance, SaaS, and more. Most websites or applications are run from one physical location, but the content can be requested from any part of the world. If the distance between the central server and end-user is significant, the transit time can be dramatically increased and the content delivery can be unreliable. End users will abandon a website they perceive as taking “too long to open,” despite the fact that the page may take just two or three seconds to completely load..
With services offered by Fastly, businesses can optimize the content delivery of their website. This can result in more secure, fast, and reliable data delivery to the end-user. Another key benefit of using Fastly is that it can be easily scaled up or down depending on the website traffic. A company can optimize its website without needing to invest in expensive hardware for heavy traffic. This helps reduce overall infrastructure costs.
What are some alternatives to Fastly?
Fastly is one of the leaders in the CND space, however, there are some other alternatives. Users can opt to use the services of Cloudflare CDN, Amazon Cloudfront, Microsoft Azure, and other reliable competitors. There are several factors to consider choosing the right CDN for your company. This includes implementation, pricing, ease of administration, scalability of services, and security features. For Fastly, there are four types of plans available: trial, essential, professional, and enterprise.
