Content Delivery Network
Deliver content quickly without widening your exposure.
Plan caching, origin protection and edge configuration around how your application actually serves customers.
Tell us what you run. We'll help define the next step.
What we focus on
- Cache policy and content classification
- Origin protection, TLS and routing
- Invalidation, testing and operations
- Scoped to your environment
- Clear deliverables, agreed upfront
- No account needed to enquire
Content Delivery Network Services
A content delivery network changes the path of every request. It can improve performance, absorb load and give you a sensible place to apply security controls, but it also introduces decisions that are easy to get wrong: what may be cached, how personalised and authenticated responses behave, whether the origin is still reachable directly, and how quickly a bad cache entry can be cleared when something goes wrong in production.
Our CDN service is for organisations delivering websites, applications, APIs and media to customers who expect them to be fast and correct. We help teams classify content, design cache keys and rules that will not leak one customer's response to another, restrict direct origin access, handle certificates cleanly at each hop, and agree an invalidation and testing process the team can use with confidence. Work is scoped around the provider you already use.
CDN planning that improves delivery without widening exposure
A content delivery network changes how every request reaches your application. Done well, it improves performance, absorbs load and gives you a sensible place to apply security controls. Done casually, it caches something private, breaks a personalised page, or leaves the origin reachable so none of the protection applies.
We decide with you what may be cached and what must never be, how the edge reaches the origin, how certificates are handled at each hop and how a bad cache entry is cleared in a hurry. We work with the provider you already use rather than pushing a particular platform, and we do not resell CDN capacity: the provider contract stays yours.
The difficult part of a CDN is rarely the initial setup. It is deciding what may be cached, what must never be, how personalised and authenticated responses behave, and how a bad cache entry is cleared quickly when something goes wrong in production.
Best fit for
- Websites with global audiences or heavy static assets
- Applications moving behind an edge or reverse proxy provider
- Teams needing safer cache, header and origin settings
What you receive
- A documented cache policy tied to real content behaviour
- Origin protection and certificate handling recommendations
- An operational plan for invalidation, testing and monitoring
CDN areas we help you plan
A CDN is not only a performance tool. It is a control point in front of your application, and the decisions made there determine what is cached, what is exposed and what your security layers can see.
Cache policy and content classification
The first task is separating content that may be cached from content that must never be. We review static assets, HTML pages, API responses, personalised fragments, authenticated pages and anything that varies by user, session, currency or region. Cache keys, vary headers, query-string handling and cookie behaviour are all reviewed, because these are where private responses accidentally become public ones. The rules themselves come from the HTTP caching standard, RFC 9111, and your provider's documentation; our work is applying them to your content.
Origin protection, TLS and routing
A CDN only helps if traffic cannot bypass it. We review how the edge connects to your origin, whether the origin still accepts direct requests, how certificates are issued and renewed at both ends, and how client information is passed through so logging and rate limiting remain accurate. Where supported, we recommend restricting the origin to the edge and documenting the exceptions needed for health checks and administration.
Invalidation, testing and operations
Cache behaviour becomes an operational concern the moment content changes. We agree how invalidation and purging work, how quickly a bad entry can be cleared, how releases interact with cached assets, and what should be tested before a configuration change reaches production. Monitoring for hit ratio, error rates and origin load gives the team a way to see problems early.
A focused CDN scope before edge rules change.
Before writing cache rules, we build a practical picture of what your application serves, what varies between visitors, and how content changes reach production.
Content, personalisation and authentication
We review what the application serves and how much of it genuinely differs between visitors. Personalised pages, logged-in views, region or currency variations, and API responses each need a deliberate decision, because a single over-broad cache rule can expose one customer’s content to another.
Traffic path, origin and certificates
We map how requests currently reach the origin across DNS, edge, load balancers and reverse proxies, then review whether the origin remains directly reachable. Certificate issuance and renewal at each hop is checked, along with the headers used to preserve client information for logging, rate limiting and security rules.
Release process and invalidation
We review how content and assets are deployed, how cached versions are cleared, and what happens when a release and a cached asset disagree. The aim is a purge and cache-busting approach the team can use confidently during an incident, not only during a planned release.
Start with the right scope.
Tell us which sites, applications or APIs you want delivered through a CDN, which pages are personalised or authenticated, and which provider you already use. We will confirm the proposed scope, platform responsibilities, deliverables, availability and pricing before work begins.
What a CDN engagement can include
- Content classification and cacheability review
- Cache key, vary header and cookie handling recommendations
- Origin exposure assessment and shielding approach
- TLS, certificate and client-information header guidance
- Invalidation, purge and release interaction plan
- Edge security rule recommendations where the provider supports them
- Monitoring, hit ratio and origin load reporting guidance
- Quote-ready scope with technology, effort and responsibilities defined
Request a quote for content delivery network
Share the systems involved, your priorities and the tools you already use. We reply by email with the scope, availability and pricing once we have reviewed what you send.
Your enquiry is with our team.
We will review what you sent and reply to your email address. Nothing starts until scope and price are agreed in writing.
Explore services in the meantimeA CDN configuration your team can change with confidence.
Content review comes before any edge rule is written, so cache decisions are made deliberately rather than discovered in production.
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01
Content and traffic review
We map what the application serves, what varies by visitor, and how requests currently reach the origin across DNS, edge and hosting.
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Cache and origin design
Cache rules, keys, vary headers, TLS handling and origin restrictions are designed around the application rather than copied from a default profile.
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Staged rollout and testing
Changes are introduced with representative testing on personalised and authenticated paths, so caching errors are caught before customers find them.
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Operational handoff
We document the cache policy, purge process, release interaction, monitoring and configuration ownership for the team that maintains it.
Questions teams ask before putting a CDN in front of production.
The CDN incidents that reach customers usually trace back to one over-broad cache rule or an origin that was never locked down. These answers cover how we avoid both.
Is a CDN a security control?
Partly. It moves the first point of contact away from your origin, absorbs load and gives you a place to apply rules such as rate limiting or request filtering where the provider supports them. It is not a substitute for a web application firewall, secure development or patching, and a misconfigured cache can create a disclosure problem that would not otherwise exist.
Can a CDN accidentally cache private content?
Yes, and when it happens it is a data disclosure incident rather than a performance problem. It usually happens when a cache rule is too broad, when cookies or authorisation headers are not part of the cache key, or when a page that varies per user is treated as static. Content classification and cache key design exist specifically to prevent this, and the private versus shared cache distinction and the Vary header that MDN documents in its HTTP caching guide are the mechanics behind them.
Should the origin still accept direct traffic?
Generally not from the public internet. If the origin remains directly reachable, caching, rate limiting and edge security rules can all be bypassed. We review how access can be restricted to the edge while keeping health checks, administration and trusted integrations working.
Will moving to a CDN cause downtime?
A DNS or traffic-path change carries risk, so rollout planning covers prerequisites, certificate handling, validation, monitoring and rollback. Whether downtime is expected depends on your current architecture, provider and change process, and the proposal will state the agreed approach.
Can you work with our existing CDN provider?
Usually, yes. Share the provider, plan and current configuration in your enquiry. We will confirm whether the platform is supported and whether the work covers review, tuning, migration or ongoing configuration management.
How do we know the configuration is working as intended?
We agree monitoring guidance covering hit ratio, error rates and origin load before the change is considered complete, so you have a way to see whether caching and origin protection are behaving as configured. Anything unexpected, such as a drop in hit ratio or unusual origin traffic, is a signal worth reviewing rather than ignoring.
Need a specific answer? Talk to our team
Further reading: MDN Web Docs guide to HTTP caching
Services that pair naturally with CDN planning.
The edge is a shared control point. These services cover the adjacent decisions that usually surface during CDN work.