Where does a CDN cache content to reduce latency?

Where does a CDN cache content to reduce latency?

• A. At edge locations around the world.
• B. Only on the origin server.
• C. Only in client devices.
• D. Within the application layer's in-memory cache.

Answer: (A)

A CDN caches content at edge locations around the world so responses come from a server close to the user, which cuts the distance data must travel and reduces round-trip time. This geographic proximity is what lowers latency and speeds up page loads, especially for users far from the original server. The CDN also offloads traffic from the origin, helping handle spikes and distribute load more evenly. Storing cache only on the origin server would still require requests to travel all the way back to that single location, so latency wouldn’t improve. Caching only on client devices relies on each user’s device, offering no benefit from a distributed network. Caching inside the application layer’s in-memory cache is limited to one server’s memory and doesn’t provide the global edge distribution that dramatically reduces latency for users worldwide.

A CDN caches content at edge locations around the world so responses come from a server close to the user, which cuts the distance data must travel and reduces round-trip time. This geographic proximity is what lowers latency and speeds up page loads, especially for users far from the original server. The CDN also offloads traffic from the origin, helping handle spikes and distribute load more evenly.

Storing cache only on the origin server would still require requests to travel all the way back to that single location, so latency wouldn’t improve. Caching only on client devices relies on each user’s device, offering no benefit from a distributed network. Caching inside the application layer’s in-memory cache is limited to one server’s memory and doesn’t provide the global edge distribution that dramatically reduces latency for users worldwide.