A Content Delivery Network (CDN) is a large distributed system of servers deployed in multiple data centers across the globe. A CDN is the ultimate tool for acceleration as it enjoys the greatest speeds when it comes to accelerating data. You can think of a CDN as a service that you pay for, and the vendor provides and manages the acceleration appliances. You don't have to do anything except pay for the service, so no talent and skillsets are needed on your team. In addition, CDNs have hundreds, if not thousands, of appliances (similar to WOCs) in datacenters all over the world, so the service is already as close to the end user as it needs to be. CDNs implement all of the same features of an ADC and WOC and they do it on a global scale.
The organization that invented the CDN back in 1998 is Akamai. They have the largest market share and undoubtedly the largest number of enterprise customers that rely on their CDN provide the best user experience. Not only do they...