{"id":45065,"date":"2025-04-22T11:49:01","date_gmt":"2025-04-22T09:49:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/xneelo.co.za\/help-centre\/?p=45065"},"modified":"2026-04-21T08:50:29","modified_gmt":"2026-04-21T06:50:29","slug":"whats-the-difference-between-cdn-and-web-accelerator-cache","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/xneelo.co.za\/help-centre\/performance-and-security\/whats-the-difference-between-cdn-and-web-accelerator-cache\/","title":{"rendered":"What\u2019s the difference between CDN and Cache?"},"content":{"rendered":"<table style=\"width: 100%; border-collapse: collapse; border-style: solid; border-color: #635c5c; background-color: #faf7f6; height: 24px;\" cellpadding=\"10\">\n<tbody>\n<tr style=\"height: 24px;\">\n<td style=\"width: 100%; height: 24px;\">Site Cache is now in limited release. Visit our <a href=\"https:\/\/xneelo.co.za\/help-centre\/performance-and-security\/cache-limited-release\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Help Centre guide<\/a> for details on how to join.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A <\/span><b>Content Delivery Network (CDN)<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and <\/span><b>Cache<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> improve website performance and speed, but they serve different purposes and operate differently.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The table below shows the key differences between a CDN and Cache:<\/span><\/p>\n<table style=\"width: 100%; border-collapse: collapse; border-style: solid; border-color: #000000; background-color: faf7f6;\" cellpadding=\"7\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"width: 20%; border-style: solid; border-color: #000000;\"><strong>Feature<\/strong><\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 40%; border-style: solid; border-color: #000000;\"><strong>CDN<\/strong><\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 40%; border-style: solid; border-color: #000000;\"><strong>Cache<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"width: 20%%; border-style: solid; border-color: #000000;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Primary Function<\/span><\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 40%; border-style: solid; border-color: #000000;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Distributes web content across multiple servers in different locations to reduce latency.<\/span><\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 40%; border-style: solid; border-color: #000000;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Caches frequently requested web content to reduce load times and server strain.<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"width: 20%%; border-style: solid; border-color: #000000;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Scope<\/span><\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 40%; border-style: solid; border-color: #000000;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Works on a global or regional scale, optimising content delivery for users worldwide.<\/span><\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 40%; border-style: solid; border-color: #000000;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Typically operates at the server or network level, focusing on optimising request handling and load times.<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"width: 20%; border-style: solid; border-color: #000000;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Location<\/span><\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 40%; border-style: solid; border-color: #000000;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Uses multiple edge servers in various geographic locations.<\/span><\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 40%; border-style: solid; border-color: #000000;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Usually implemented on a single server, proxy, or application layer.<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"width: 20%; border-style: solid; border-color: #000000;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Caching Method<\/span><\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 40%; border-style: solid; border-color: #000000;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Stores copies of website resources (images, videos, scripts, HTML pages) in geographically distributed servers.<\/span><\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 40%; border-style: solid; border-color: #000000;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Stores copies of website resources (images, videos, scripts, HTML pages) on a caching service in a location close to the origin server.<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"width: 20%; border-style: solid; border-color: #000000;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Use Case<\/span><\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 40%; border-style: solid; border-color: #000000;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Best for handling global traffic, reducing latency, and distributing load.<\/span><\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 40%; border-style: solid; border-color: #000000;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Best for optimising web application performance, reducing redundant processing, and improving response times.<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p><b>How to choose between CDN and Cache<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Use a <\/span><b>CDN<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> if you have a global audience and want to deliver content faster by distributing it closer to users.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span>Use <\/span><b>Cache<\/b><span> if you need to optimise performance on a specific web server or application without placing copies of cacheable content around the world.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false,"plain":"<table  cellpadding=\"10\">\r\n<tbody>\r\n<tr >\r\n<td >Site Cache is now in limited release. Visit our <a href=\"https:\/\/xneelo.co.za\/help-centre\/performance-and-security\/cache-limited-release\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Help Centre guide<\/a> for details on how to join.<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<\/tbody>\r\n<\/table>\r\n<span >A <\/span><b>Content Delivery Network (CDN)<\/b><span > and <\/span><b>Cache<\/b><span > improve website performance and speed, but they serve different purposes and operate differently.<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span >The table below shows the key differences between a CDN and Cache:<\/span>\r\n<table  cellpadding=\"7\">\r\n<tbody>\r\n<tr>\r\n<td ><strong>Feature<\/strong><\/td>\r\n<td ><strong>CDN<\/strong><\/td>\r\n<td ><strong>Cache<\/strong><\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<tr>\r\n<td ><span >Primary Function<\/span><\/td>\r\n<td ><span >Distributes web content across multiple servers in different locations to reduce latency.<\/span><\/td>\r\n<td ><span >Caches frequently requested web content to reduce load times and server strain.<\/span><\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<tr>\r\n<td ><span >Scope<\/span><\/td>\r\n<td ><span >Works on a global or regional scale, optimising content delivery for users worldwide.<\/span><\/td>\r\n<td ><span >Typically operates at the server or network level, focusing on optimising request handling and load times.<\/span><\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<tr>\r\n<td ><span >Location<\/span><\/td>\r\n<td ><span >Uses multiple edge servers in various geographic locations.<\/span><\/td>\r\n<td ><span >Usually implemented on a single server, proxy, or application layer.<\/span><\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<tr>\r\n<td ><span >Caching Method<\/span><\/td>\r\n<td ><span >Stores copies of website resources (images, videos, scripts, HTML pages) in geographically distributed servers.<\/span><\/td>\r\n<td ><span >Stores copies of website resources (images, videos, scripts, HTML pages) on a caching service in a location close to the origin server.<\/span><\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<tr>\r\n<td ><span >Use Case<\/span><\/td>\r\n<td ><span >Best for handling global traffic, reducing latency, and distributing load.<\/span><\/td>\r\n<td ><span >Best for optimising web application performance, reducing redundant processing, and improving response times.<\/span><\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<\/tbody>\r\n<\/table>\r\n<b>How to choose between CDN and Cache<\/b>\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li ><span >Use a <\/span><b>CDN<\/b><span > if you have a global audience and want to deliver content faster by distributing it closer to users.<\/span><\/li>\r\n \t<li><span>Use <\/span><b>Cache<\/b><span> if you need to optimise performance on a specific web server or application without placing copies of cacheable content around the world.<\/span><\/li>\r\n<\/ul>"},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A CDN and a Cache improve website performance and speed, but they serve different purposes and operate differently.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":34,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"lsx_disable_title":"0","_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[23177],"tags":[23376,23373,23379,23334,21215,17550],"topics":[22745],"class_list":["post-45065","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-performance-and-security","tag-whats-the-difference","tag-cdn-vs-cache","tag-improve-website-speed","tag-cache","tag-website-performance","tag-content-delivery-network","topics-web-accelerator-cache"],"acf":[],"additional_meta":{"category_title":[{"term_id":23177,"name":"performance 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