Load Balancer vs. Content Delivery Network(CDN)
Below are the differences between a Load Balancer and a Content Distribution Network(CDN):
Feature | Load Balancer | CDN |
---|---|---|
Purpose | Distributes incoming traffic across multiple servers | Delivers content to users from edge servers |
Layer | Operates at the application or network layer | Operates at the content layer |
Traffic Distribution | Distributes traffic based on server load | Delivers content based on user location and edge cache |
Content Optimization | Does not optimize content | Optimizes content for faster delivery |
Caching | Does not cache content | Caches content at edge servers |
Geographic Coverage | Typically limited to data centers | Globally distributed network of edge servers |
Use Cases | Improving performance and availability of applications | Delivering web content, such as images and videos |
Examples | AWS Elastic Load Balancing, NGINX, HAProxy | Cloudflare, Akamai, Amazon CloudFront |
Is Load Balancer a CDN?
No, a load balancer is not the same as a Content Delivery Network (CDN), although they serve somewhat similar purposes in distributing traffic.