How does AWS Global Accelerator improve application performance?

AWS Global Accelerator enhances application performance by intelligently routing user traffic through optimal locations. This service directs incoming requests to the nearest AWS edge location, which then forwards the traffic over the AWS global network to the application endpoint. By leveraging this optimized path, Global Accelerator reduces latency and minimizes the impact of internet congestion, leading to improved performance for end-users.

In the context of application delivery, ensuring that users are connected to the most efficient route plays a crucial role in providing a responsive experience. This improves overall application availability and can dynamically adjust routes in response to changing network conditions, further optimizing performance.

The other options do not align with the role of the Global Accelerator. Caching static content is typically associated with services like Amazon CloudFront, which is a content delivery network (CDN). Sending alerts for downtime pertains more to monitoring services and not directly to performance improvements. Similarly, increasing instance sizes would impact the compute capacity but does not address traffic routing or optimal performance at the network level.