What is the primary function of a "content delivery network" (CDN)?

The primary function of a "content delivery network" (CDN) is to distribute web content based on user location. CDNs achieve this by using a network of strategically located servers that cache content closer to end users. This geographical dispersion reduces latency and improves the loading times for websites and applications, enhancing the user experience, especially for content-heavy media like videos and images.

By taking advantage of this proximity, CDNs also help to offload traffic from a single server, ensuring that no single point becomes overwhelmed. Furthermore, CDNs can provide load balancing and increased availability of content by distributing requests and dynamically rerouting traffic in response to changing conditions.

Other options represent different functions that are not the primary focus of a CDN. While managing data encryption, providing cloud storage, and analyzing user traffic patterns are important aspects of cloud computing and online services, they are not the main task of a CDN, which is focused on optimized content delivery.