While the offering is new to Hostway's European operations, Hostway's North American operations (hostway.com) have been offering its "edge caching" content delivery services at least since August 2007.

Edge caching is the ability to distribute content from a local Web server to caching servers that are closer to the end user, or nearer the "edge". By using a number of Foundry ServerIron 4G switches, Hostway says it can route users to the server nearest to their location, ensuring that content is tailored to the user's location and providing valuable business continuity and redirection services.

"Almost all large companies have their website accessible on a number of servers around the world, but traffic to these servers is rarely intelligently routed," says David Foxley, enterprise technology manager, Hostway UK. 

Accessing a website in Sydney from a PC in London, for example, can have a considerable effect on how quickly images load. However, by using the CDN, Hostway says it can ensure that all content loads as quickly as possible, by storing it as close to the user as possible.

"Although broadband speeds are accelerating, user experience is frequently far from optimal," says Foxley. "However, this isn't always down to connection speed - a great deal depends on the hosting environment and website itself. By introducing the content delivery network, we hope to give our customers a competitive edge by ensuring that their websites always load as quickly as possible and provide the best possible experience."

Looking at the company's website, Hostway UK seems to be offering the CDN services immediately and encourages customers and interested parties to contact the company directly to work out a customized plan.