Practice Test Geeks(CDN) Content Delivery Network Certification Practice Test
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Architecture & Components Flashcards

7 cards from real CDN practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.

Read the first 7 Architecture & Components flashcards as text

  1. What is the function of a CDN 'manifest file' in adaptive bitrate (ABR) streaming?

    Answer: It describes available video renditions and their segment URLs for the player

    A manifest (e.g., HLS .m3u8 or DASH .mpd) enumerates each quality rendition and segment location so the player can switch bitrates dynamically.

  2. Which CDN architectural pattern uses geographically distributed 'scrubbing centers' to absorb volumetric DDoS traffic before it reaches PoPs?

    Answer: DDoS mitigation via traffic scrubbing

    Scrubbing centers inspect and filter attack traffic in-line, passing only clean traffic onward to the CDN edge nodes.

  3. In CDN architecture, what is a 'cache key' and why does it matter?

    Answer: The unique identifier (typically URL + selected headers) used to look up a cached object

    The cache key determines cache hit/miss logic; including the wrong headers (e.g., User-Agent) can fragment the cache and reduce hit rates.

  4. What is 'stale-while-revalidate' behavior in a CDN cache?

    Answer: The CDN serves a stale cached object immediately while asynchronously fetching a fresh copy

    Stale-while-revalidate lets the CDN serve the old cached version instantly, then refresh it in the background, eliminating user-perceived latency.

  5. Which component in a CDN stack typically handles real-time log streaming and analytics aggregation across all edge nodes?

    Answer: Log aggregation pipeline (e.g., Kafka + ClickHouse)

    High-volume edge logs are streamed via message queues and stored in columnar databases to support real-time analytics dashboards.

  6. What is 'private CDN peering' and how does it benefit a CDN provider?

    Answer: Directly interconnecting with ISPs/IXPs to reduce transit costs and improve latency

    Private peering at Internet Exchange Points (IXPs) allows CDNs to exchange traffic directly with ISPs, bypassing expensive transit links.

  7. How does a CDN handle a 'cache MISS' for a request to a static asset?

    Answer: It fetches the asset from the origin or parent cache, caches it, then serves it to the client

    On a cache miss the edge node acts as a reverse proxy, fetching the asset from upstream, storing it locally, and forwarding it to the client.

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