Master new skills with our 21-day learning paths, broken into easy 5-minute daily lessons.

Start your journey for free.

system Advanced 21 lessons

CDN Architecture

Build the edge. Understand how CDNs work internally, from Anycast DNS and PoP topology to caching strategies and cache invalidation.

How does Netflix stream video instantly? Content Delivery Networks (CDNs). This course reveals the architecture behind the edge. You will learn how Anycast DNS routes users to the nearest Point of Presence (PoP). We explore the hierarchy of Origin, Mid-tier, and Edge servers. Master complex caching policies (Cache-Control headers), strategies for purging/invalidating stale content, and the 'Thundering Herd' problem. Essential for architects designing global systems.

✅ 100% Free & Lifetime Access
⏱️ 5-Minute Lessons (Bite-sized learning)
🚀 21-Lesson Path (Independent modules)
📱 Mobile Friendly (Learn anywhere)
Edge Arch
Start Learning
Secure Enrollment via SSL

Complete Course Syllabus

  • 1
    Anycast DNS
    Routing users to the closest geographical server IP.
  • 2
    PoP Architecture
    Inside the Point of Presence: SSDs, RAM, and networking.
  • 3
    Caching Policies
    Deep dive into HTTP Cache-Control and Etags.
  • 4
    Invalidation
    The hard problem of removing stale content globally.
  • 5
    Request Collapsing
    Protecting the origin from simultaneous cache misses.

Estimated completion time: 21 lessons • Self-paced learning • Lifetime access

Career Outlook

Estimated Salary
$140k - $190k

Career Paths

CDN Architect $150k-$200k
Edge Infrastructure Eng $140k-$185k
Video Streaming Eng $130k-$175k

What You Will Learn

Architect global content delivery strategies using Anycast DNS
Optimize cache hit ratios using tiered storage architectures
Implement cache invalidation strategies (Purge vs Ban)
Mitigate the Thundering Herd problem with Request Collapsing
Design for high availability using Multi-CDN approaches

Skills You Will Gain

CDN Architecture DNS Management HTTP Caching Edge Computing Traffic Engineering

Who Is This For

Network Architects
Performance Engs
Streaming Engineers

Prerequisites

Networking
HTTP Protocol

CDN Architecture FAQs

Build one?

We simulate a mini-CDN network to learn.

Cloudflare/Akamai?

We study their architecture as reference models.

Video focus?

Yes, streaming is the biggest driver of CDNs.

Complexity?

High; involves BGP, DNS, and HTTP internals.

Need more info?
All Reork courses are 100% free, self-paced, and fully accessible on mobile devices. No prior experience is required. Read our full Platform FAQ.

Tech Stack & Tools

Varnish Cache
Bind DNS
Wireshark
Curl

Recommended Next Steps

Network Programming (C++)

system Advanced

Build high-performance network applications. Master Socket programming, TCP/UDP internals, and Asynchronous I/O using C++.

Reverse Engineering

system Advanced

Deconstruct compiled software. Master Assembly language, decompilation using Ghidra, and binary patching to understand how closed-source code works.

Blockchain & Web3 Dev

system Advanced

Build decentralized applications. Master Solidity smart contracts, the EVM architecture, and dApp integration using Hardhat and Ethers.js.

Start Learning