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Anycast Routing: How Cloudflare Routes to Nearest Server

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One IP, hundreds of servers, global routing

Anycast assigns the same IP address to servers in many locations simultaneously. When you send a packet to 1.1.1.1, BGP routing delivers it to the nearest Cloudflare server — without you specifying which one.

This is the foundation of CDNs and DNS services: the same 1.1.1.1 serves traffic from Tokyo, Frankfurt, São Paulo, and New York — each user hitting their closest point of presence.

Packets in motion — click to inspect:

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