What is the primary purpose of a Content Delivery Network (CDN) in cloud computing? To manage databases To distribute content and reduce latency To secure network connections To host virtual machines

The primary purpose of a Content Delivery Network (CDN) in cloud computing is to distribute content and reduce latency.

Here's a step-by-step explanation:

1. A CDN is a network of servers distributed geographically.
2. When a user requests content (like a video, an image, a web page), instead of going to the original server where the content is hosted, the request goes to the nearest CDN server.
3. This server, being closer to the user, can deliver the content faster, reducing the time it takes for the content to load (this time is known as latency).
4. By distributing the content across many servers, a CDN also helps to balance the load, preventing any one server from becoming overwhelmed with traffic.
5. This not only improves user experience (because content loads faster), but can also reduce costs for the content provider, because less strain is put on the original server.