As two products commonly used for network acceleration and speeding up webpage or application access, SD-WAN and CDN acceleration are often confused. So, what are the key differences between them?

Enterprises typically employ SD-WAN to ensure that employees have a better experience when accessing the company network. On the other hand, software developers or information service providers more commonly use CDN to cache their content, enabling customers to access the nearest nodes and ensuring optimal user experiences.

Applications of SD-WAN:

For instance, a company may use servers in Hong Kong, serving users across the United States, Europe, and the Middle East. When MPLS lines fail to meet the substantial bandwidth demands, or when the company cannot afford the time and cost to set up dedicated lines, SD-WAN becomes the preferred choice. The flexible deployment features of international SD-WAN allow companies to establish global connections in a very short time frame.

In the case of multinational enterprises engaging in remote work through public Internet connections, there might be network access fluctuations due to the extended transmission distance. By utilizing global SD-WAN products based on dedicated networks, global SD-WAN can optimize and route traffic. Consequently, employees in different regions of multinational companies can experience faster and more consistent program response times.

Applications of CDN:

CDN is generally used to store content on nodes closer to the end-users. For example, a news organization like Weibo might be concerned about server downtime during significant news events. Deploying CDN allows it to replicate and cache content on servers across the globe. In the event of a disruption in the main server’s network signal, users will retrieve services from local servers, virtually eliminating delays or interruptions.

Therefore, some companies may choose to use SD-WAN services to ensure the optimal experience for their corporate intranet, while certain media outlets might prefer CDN to cache a large volume of media files. While both SD-WAN and CDN acceleration contribute to speeding up access to applications, they play distinct and crucial roles in helping companies fully leverage their online resources.

If you have related network acceleration needs, feel free to consult Ogcloud. We will tailor the best solution for you!