Cloudfront.net is an online service referred to as a content delivery network, or CDN, that many companies use to speed up or accelerate the delivery of content such as video, API (Application Program Interface), and overall  website loading speed, which is crucial in keeping a visitor engaged on any website.

This allows businesses to distribute content to their end-users at higher data transfer speeds with low latency or dragging and zero commitments. In other words, it is one way to drastically improve your website or application performance, thereby also improving your overall visitor experience, which can lead to reciprocal visitors and increased  sales revenue.

What Is Amazon CloudFront?

Amazon CloudFront is the web service to use when seeking to speed up the distribution of your  WordPress web content, either in dynamic or static files through a worldwide network of data centers referred to as edge locations. 

Content that is served by CloudFront is delivered with the best performance possible, meaning higher speed of delivery. 

Reliability and availability are also increased, because copies of your files (called objects) are now cached or stored in locations around the world. 

After the initial setup, CloudFront will work with your application or website to speed up the delivery of whatever content you have stored, whether it is static, dynamic, video, or javascript files.

Boasting 169 points of presence, it is easy to see why using CloudFront.net is the chosen application of major brands, such as Instacart, slack, and stack share. As a website begins to grow and visibility is increased, traffic will demand faster load times and Cloudfront.net will offer the ability to produce the required results. The website owner is seeking to enhance speed and reliability and this CDN will do the job.

Is Cloudfront.net Free? 

If using WordPress, the easiest way to implement this software is via the Amazon Cloudfront.net plugin, which offers easy setup and configuration of Cloudfront.net. It will also pre-compress files and has the benefit of automatic cache invalidating, which helps to keep your website optimized and reduces the loading time of your pages.

How Cache Works in Website Data

To understand how a cache works in website data, it helps to know the workings of a basic website, where all the information is stored and how it is retrieved. 

Any website is comprised of dynamic (interactive), static (fixed), HTML, and JavaScript files. When an internet user types in a search query which takes them to your website, their browser will request to view the page that contains that specific information. Where this information is stored has an impact on your websites performance level.

Caching is important as it allows frequently requested data to be stored locally to reduce the workload of the server. This in turn can improve the performance of a website by reducing the number of requests made to the server. 

When a request is made by an internet user's browser from cloudfront.net and the information is there in the cloudfront.net cache, this information is then retrieved faster than if it came from the server. If this requested information is not in the cache, then it will be retrieved from the original source and placed in the cache for future inquiries. 

Cloudfront.net WinINET free plugin 

When using this option, only HTTP and FTP responses are cached. There is the ability to automatically clear the cache when files are updated, and multiple expirations times can also be set, ultimately enhancing the response time.

A Firefox extension is also available with the same or similar operating system, allowing for automation of cache clearing when files are updated and the ability to set multiple times of expiration of the cache. 

Internet Explorer and Cloudfront.net 

Internet explorer is on its final release (11) and can affect how Cloudfront.net performs, depending on the settings you choose. To ensure that CloudFront.net continues to function properly, here are some Internet Explorer settings to check. 

Be sure to have the "check for newer versions of stored pages" on so it will continually check for updated information or resources. Make sure the “every time I visit the webpage” option is not on. Instead, it should be set to automatically, which will improve performance by scanning less frequently. 

Furthermore, enable page caching and check HTTP settings. 

To Review 

CloudFront is an online delivery service, also known as a CDN or Content Delivery Network and has the capability to improve any website’s performance, which allows for a higher speed of delivery to the end consumer by utilizing a worldwide network of data centers known as edge locations. 

Contents, also called objects or files, are stored in these edge locations or caches to be speedily retrieved when an internet browser engages in a search for specific information to be discovered on a website. 

Reliability and availability are increased due to the copies of files now being stored in these caches. 

Caching allows data that is frequently requested by a browser to be stored locally, hence reducing the time needed to retrieve and load this data to the end user. 

It is easy to begin using this performance enhancement and once the initial set up is complete, any website can experience the benefits of automatically clearing a cache when content is updated, which in turn accelerates a website's overall performance. 

The end user will have a smoother experience when visiting a website and will in turn spend more time browsing this site, which can increase return visits, sales and revenue. 

CloudFront.net is utilized by many  well-known online businesses and is a safe Content Delivery Network to partner with in order to maximize your websites' potential, enhance speed and delivery performance to anyone, anywhere in the world.

This CDN has a proven track record for speed and reliability, with big names in business utilizing its worldwide network of data centers that are ready to swiftly transfer your web content to the end user faster than ever before.

Website performance and reliability are more important than ever. Cloudfront.net offers a solution.