Google Cloud CDN
Google Cloud CDN serves static or cacheable responses from edge locations worldwide to reduce latency and origin load. It works with Cloud Load Balancing so you can apply cache policy under the same domain.
▶Architecture Diagram
📊 Data FlowDashed line animations indicate the flow direction of data or requests
When every user repeatedly downloads the same images and scripts from the origin, latency rises and the backend spends resources answering identical requests. The farther users are from the origin, the worse this gets.
Early web services served every request directly from the origin server. As static asset volume and global traffic grew, repeatedly sending the same response from one place became too expensive, and the CDN model became standard.
Cloud CDN stores responses in edge caches in front of Cloud Load Balancing. Each request checks the edge first, and only cache misses are forwarded to the origin so the returned response can be cached for the next request.
Cloud CDN and Cloud Load Balancing are often deployed together, but they solve different problems. Cloud CDN replicates already-generated responses closer to the user, while Cloud Load Balancing chooses which backend should handle the request. If response reuse is the core need, CDN is central; if backend selection and failover matter most, Load Balancing is central.
A strong fit for static web assets, media files, and cacheable public API responses. Use caution when every response depends on user identity or requires immediate consistency.