Why architecture matters here

CDN fails on wrong cache keys (misses), missing purge (stale), and unshielded origin (cost). Architecture matters because keys + purge + shielding decide effectiveness.

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The architecture: every piece explained

The top strip is topology. Origin. Shield / mid-tier. PoP edge. Client.

The middle row is control. Cache keys + TTL. Purge / invalidation. WAF + bot mgmt. Edge compute.

The lower rows are ops. TLS termination. Observability. Ops — cost + purge policy.

Cloud CDN — PoP + cache tiers + purge + WAF + edge computestatic + dynamic acceleration at the edgeOriginyour app / storageShield / mid-tierreduce origin egressPoP edgeuser-nearestClientbrowser / appCache keys + TTLhit ratioPurge / invalidationon origin changeWAF + bot mgmtL7 securityEdge computeworkers / functionsTLS terminationSNI + OCSPObservabilityhit ratio + latencyOps — cost + purge policy + failoverkeyinvalidateprotectcomputeTLSwatchwatchoperateoperate
CDN architecture with PoPs + shielding + edge compute.
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End-to-end flow

End-to-end: user requests an image. PoP checks cache; miss → shield → origin. Cached with 1h TTL. Next users hit PoP directly. On image update, purge invalidates. WAF blocks scanner. Edge compute personalizes headers.