Connection origin refers to where a network connection starts; a device, system, or endpoint that initiates the connection.

Whenever two systems communicate (like your laptop and a website), there are always two sides:

1. Origin (source) which starts the connection
2. Destination that receives it

In web hosting, connection origin can also refer to an origin server that holds the original data or content for a website or application. It’s a physical or virtual server where a website’s master files (such as HTML, images, and video) are stored.

In a content delivery network (CDN), when a user requests content, the CDN checks if the file is cached on the edge server close to them. If it’s not, the edge server requests the file from the origin server.