How does deploying applications closer to users via edge computing benefit performance?

Deploying applications closer to users through edge computing significantly benefits performance primarily by reducing latency. When applications and data processing occur at the edge, or closer to the end-users, the physical distance that data must travel is substantially decreased. This reduction in the distance leads to faster response times when users interact with the application, as it minimizes the time taken for data requests to travel back and forth between the client and the server.

Lower latency is especially important for applications that require real-time data processing, such as video streaming, online gaming, and IoT (Internet of Things) applications. By having servers situated nearer to users, edge computing enhances the user's experience by ensuring conversations, data exchanges, and real-time interactions happen more seamlessly and quickly.

The other choices do not directly address how performance is enhanced through edge deployment. Centralizing data storage typically leads to longer data retrieval times as users might have to wait for data to travel to and from a central server. Increasing data volume does not inherently improve performance, as it might lead to congestion and slower response times. Limiting access points could potentially enhance security or control but does not directly correlate to performance improvement in terms of speed and latency.