Web and CDN Caching
Every time a web page loads instantly on a repeat visit, or a video streams smoothly from halfway around the world, caching is the reason. The web is layered with caches — in your browser, at CDN edge servers near you, in front of origin servers — all applying the same caching principle to make the internet fast. And remarkably, much of it is coordinated by a few HTTP headers that let servers tell caches exactly what to store and for how long. Understanding web and CDN caching is understanding how the internet stays fast at global scale.
Every time a web page loads instantly on a repeat visit, or a video streams smoothly from across the world, caching is the reason. The web is layered with caches — browser, CDN edge, origin — all applying the same principle, much of it coordinated by a few HTTP headers.