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What Is Anycast?
AnycastOverview of Anycast
Anycast is a networking technique that allows for multiple machines to share the same IP address. Anycast IP addresses are IP addresses that don’t have a single, fixed location because they are broadcast from multiple points, so they could appear to be located in both NYC and London depending on where the IP address is connected from.
What to Know About Anycast IPs
Finding the precise location of a server with an anycast IP address is challenging due to routing decisions based on network topology rather than proximity. Geolocating an anycast IP address is unreliable since the server managing the request can change due to factors like network load, outages, or routing protocol changes. The same anycast IP may be resolved in different locations for different users or at different times.
How IPinfo Handles Anycast IPs
We identify anycast IP addresses via our Probe Network’s latency-based geolocation method. When multiple conflicting locations are found for an IP address, the IP is tagged as anycast and we return the WHOIS geolocation (typically the headquarters of the organization owning the IP address).
We recommend that users look out for the anycast flag before considering the location information provided.
Links to Related Documentation and Tooling
Additional Resources
- Community Post: What Is Anycast?
- Blog: IPinfo's Journey to Accurate IP Data