How Does Agora’s Network Compare to a Content Delivery Network?

The internet's best-effort system prioritizes reliability over speed, which is a challenge for real-time video and audio streaming. While content delivery networks (CDNs) address routing challenges for static content like webpages or on-demand videos, they don't work well for real-time communication due to the inability to store live content in advance. Agora's Software Defined-Real Time Network™ (SD-RTN™) is designed specifically for real-time interaction by dynamically selecting the most efficient routes for transmitting streams of video and audio frames with minimal delay (low latency). This network ensures a high-quality experience for users, even under poor local network conditions. Agora's SD-RTN provides specialized functionalities for real-time communication that go beyond the capabilities of standard CDN services.