Optimizing Traffic Flow with Akamai#

Kams Yeung

• Why: The core insight — that classic BGP traffic engineering (AS-path prepending, MED, more-specifics) is largely ineffective against a large CDN's intelligent routing — is a practical lesson for any operator peering with CDNs, and the remediation list is concrete.
• What: How Akamai's CDN is structured in NZ and maps traffic, why traditional BGP TE fails against it, and a set of operator best practices: dedicated DNS resolvers, complete and consistent route announcements, avoiding traffic filtering, avoiding CGNAT, and adopting IPv6 (from abstract only).
• How: CDN-side intelligence (mapping/routing) responds to reachability and resolver signals rather than BGP path metrics — so operators influence delivery through routing hygiene, resolver placement, and IPv6 availability rather than prepending.
• Where applicable: Any ISP or edge operator interconnecting with major CDNs. Akamai-specific in its mapping details but the pattern generalises to other intelligent-routing CDNs. It is an Akamai-delivered talk, so treat the "adopt IPv6 / avoid CGNAT" recommendations with the usual vendor-adjacent scepticism — though these align with broad community practice.