DNS traffic steering
Routing policy belongs in DNS, not only in the load balancer.
Once a client has an address, you already chose the region. Steering after that is damage control. The first policy decision is the DNS answer.
Combine GeoDNS, weights, subnet policies and health checks on Cloud DNS so each resolver receives the endpoint you intended, on Anycast authority.
Why teams use Aptranet
What DNS traffic steering looks like on this network.
Cloud DNS answers on 210+ Anycast servers, with GeoDNS, health checks and a one-second minimum TTL for change.
Policy before the handshake
Location, ASN, subnet and weight can all shape the answer.
Health is part of policy
A target that fails checks leaves the eligible set.
Change the map quickly
A one-second minimum TTL supports evacuations and canaries.
How to set it up
A cutover you can validate before DNS moves.
Create the Cloud DNS configuration, prove it on an Aptranet hostname, then point production DNS when the path looks correct.
- 1Describe the intended map
Which resolvers should reach which endpoints, and under what health.
- 2Encode it as GeoDNS, weights or subnets
Use the coarsest policy that meets the requirement.
- 3Attach health checks
Policy without health still points at outages.
- 4Rehearse a policy change
Lower TTLs, change a weight, and confirm resolvers move.
Outcomes
What changes once the hostname is on Aptranet.
- Answers follow a documented map
- Canaries and evacuations are DNS operations
- Unhealthy targets are excluded
- Authority remains Anycast
Keep reading
Related pages
More DNS use cases on the same Cloud DNS footprint.
Frequently Asked Questions
GeoDNS by coordinates, continent or country approximates nearby endpoints. It is not a per-user RTT measurement.
Yes. Apply policy to the record sets that need it. Leave MX and static records simple.
They compose. Cloud CDN uses Anycast and GeoDNS for delivery. Cloud DNS steers hostnames you host authoritatively.
Test from multiple resolver locations and document fallbacks when no geo rule matches.