Global Traffic Management (GTM) is a dynamic DNS-based global server load balancing (GSLB) solution designed to ensure high availability and responsiveness to end-user requests.

 

Unlike traditional hardware-based solutions that reside at fixed locations such as enterprise datacenters, Akamai GTM is a cloud-based fault-tolerant solution that leverages the scale and speed of the Akamai Intelligent Edge Platform. GTM makes intelligent routing decisions based on real-time data center performance health and global Internet conditions to route online user requests to the most appropriate data center using an optimized Internet route for that user at a given moment.

 

GTM can be configured to route requests based on any combination of the following:

 

• Primary site failure – GTM directs requests to an alternate location when there is a failure at the primary site. This method can be used across disparate network operators

• IP Intelligence — GTM can direct requests to data centers based on geographic or IP rules

• Fair weighting – GTM can direct requests to data centers based on preset percentage splits

• Policy – GTM can direct requests based on policy rules that tradeoff availability and performance

• Load feedback – GTM can direct requests based on real-time communication with the customer’s premises, load policies can be modified depending on actual data centers’ performance

 

Enterprises who use Akamai GTM to load balance end-user requests benefit from:

 

• Improved availability – GTM monitors data center (or cloud provider) health and Internet conditions to make the most intelligent routing decision. GTM also offers geographic and global scale to maximize reliability and redundancy.

• Improved response times – GTM uses real-time Internet monitoring to find the optimal path to customer datacenters or cloud providers. Because GTM is based on the Akamai Intelligent Edge, servers are almost always located closer to end-users than other solutions.

• Lower cost of ownership – As opposed to the significant and sometimes wasteful CapEx and OpEx required to self-manage IT infrastructure-based solutions, GTM is a fully-managed service that grows as needed.

• Network visibility and control – GTM uses a self-service model that makes it easy to set up new properties. Its real-time data, reports, and alerts enables faster decisions that can benefit the organization as a whole.