Which caching solution can improve platform performance by delivering content closer to the end user?

A Content Delivery Network (CDN) is designed specifically to improve platform performance by reducing latency and delivering content closer to end users. It achieves this by caching content in multiple geographically dispersed locations, known as edge servers. When a user makes a request for content, the CDN routes that request to the nearest edge server, which can provide the content more quickly than if it had to come from a centralized server location. This not only enhances load times for users but also alleviates bandwidth stress on the origin server.

In contrast, other options serve different purposes within networking and content management. A reverse proxy primarily functions as an intermediary server that forwards client requests to a backend server, which can enhance security and load distribution but doesn’t itself cache content for performance improvement in the same way that a CDN does. A load balancer distributes incoming requests across multiple servers to ensure no single server becomes overwhelmed, which can help maintain high availability but does not specifically cache or deliver content from strategic locations. Browser cache stores content locally on a user’s device for quicker access on subsequent visits, but its scope is limited to the individual user's browser and cannot provide the global performance improvements that a CDN offers.