Aside from using a caching plugin like W3 Total Cache, the other reason why my blog can load faster in spite of the heavy use of images is that I use a content delivery network or CDN. If you’re not familiar with what a CDN is, it is a system of servers that are largely distributed in multiple data centers across the globe. It’s objective is to serve web objects (text, graphics and scripts), downloadable objects (media files, software, documents), applications (e-commerce, portals), live streaming media, on-demand streaming media, and social networks to end-users as quickly as possible.
For this blog, my CDN of choice is MaxCDN. JaypeeOnline has been powered by MaxCDN since February of 2011. They support the most number of CMS than any other CDNs – WordPress, Drupal, Joomla, Magento, Prestashop, X-Cart, vBulletin, SocialEngine, IP.Board and OpenCart. They are also used by some of the most popular websites such as TheNexWeb and StumbleUpon, big-name companies such as Black & Decker, Nissan, Kodak, BuySellAds and Template Monster, popular WordPress sites like Yoast and WP Beginner and even WordPress hosting companies like Page.ly, WP Engine and ZippyKid.
SCREENSHOTS:
MaxCDN has very affordable packages or price plans starting off at $9/month for 2 websites and 100GB/month of bandwidth and tops at $499/month for 10 websites and 10TB/month of bandwidth. Users also get the following for FREE with any MaxCDN plan:
- HTTP & HTTPS Requests (other CDNs charge for this)
- Shared SSL
- 24/7 Complete support (phone, ticket system and chat).
- Complete API and documentation
- Control Panel
- Security features (2-Step authentication, Activity alerts, Whitelisting, Rolebased API keys & OAuth).
They also have a 30-day 100% money-back guarantee in case you’re not satisfied or if you change your mind. You have nothing to lose if you try out MaxCDN.
Aside from the features I mentioned above, many users choose MaxCDN because the provide the following:
- Free setup (other CDNs charge a setup fee)
- Instant Activation
- High performance (optimized hardware & software)
- Low bandwidth prices
- Overage protection (accounts won’t be shut down for overage)
If that’s not enough to convince you to choose MaxCDN, maybe a 25% OFF coupon would. Just click here, signup and choose your preferred price plan and use max20 coupon when you checkout. Instead of $9/month, you’ll only pay $6.75/month for the starter plan or only $374.25 instead of $499 for the premium plan.
SIGNUP WITH MAXCDN AND SUPERCHARGE YOUR WEBSITE!
DISCLAIMER: MaxCDN is a sponsor of JaypeeOnline. Links in this post contain affiliate links that do not cost you any extra fees. It only allows me to get commission for referring new customers.
I use W3 Total Cache as my caching plugin ever since without problems. Got curious with MaxCDN and tried it a couple of months back, using the setup within W3 Total Cache.
A few days later, I noticed some of the photos and embedded videos stopped showing. Since I was too busy with other matters back then, I just disabled MaxCDN.
My suspects are my site’s htaccess where I manually configured it to prevent image hotlinking; or the BJ Lazy Load plugin. Will test it out soon.
I need to implement a CDN on my site actually, any thoughts on simply running a CDN through a subdomain of my TLD? Thanks.
Based on what you’ve shared, I believe that it’s most likely the .htaccess rewrite rules for preventing image hot linking but then I could be wrong.
I used to have those too but I’ve taken taken them out a long time ago.
Anyways, I think you can try removing the hot linking rules or the plugin you mentioned and see if it works. If it still doesn’t work, my suggestion is to contact MaxCDN.
When I installed MaxCDN here, they guided me through the setup process so it went smoothly.
Regarding the subdomain, I think I also did that. I created maxcdn.jaypeeonline.net and pointed it to MaxCDN servers. I just forgot the exact process to do that as it’s been over 2 years since I installed MaxCDN.
Used this once. Some photos, and embedded youtube vids stopped showing. Was not able to troubleshoot it so stopped using it until I figure out the problem.
Any thoughts?
Hi Fitz, thanks for sharing your experience. That kind of problem could be caused by many things like wrong configuration, conflict with other WordPress plugins, etc. Did you use any caching plugins or a service like CloudFlare?
Btw, was this experience with MaxCDN or a different CDN?