Akamai CDN
Enterprise-grade CDN for app, API, and media delivery at global scale
Apache Traffic Control
Orchestrate a scalable, open-source CDN with Apache Traffic Control
Apache Traffic Control provides a full suite of tools—API, web UI, routing, monitoring, and statistics—to deploy and manage a high‑performance content delivery network using Apache Traffic Server.
Overview
Overview
Apache Traffic Control is a modular platform that enables organizations to build and operate large‑scale content delivery networks. It leverages Apache Traffic Server for caching and adds essential CDN functions such as traffic routing, health monitoring, and real‑time analytics.
Who Should Use It
The project targets network operators, ISPs, and enterprises that need a programmable, open‑source alternative to commercial CDN services. Its RESTful Traffic Ops API and the Traffic Portal web GUI give developers and administrators fine‑grained control over edge servers, cache policies, and delivery routes.
Deployment
Deploying Traffic Control involves installing the core components—Traffic Ops, Traffic Router, Traffic Monitor, Traffic Stats, and Traffic Portal—alongside Apache Traffic Server instances. Metrics are stored in InfluxDB for charting and alerting. While the master branch is under active development, comprehensive documentation and an active Apache community support production use cases.
Highlights
RESTful Traffic Ops API for centralized CDN management
Traffic Portal web GUI for intuitive configuration
Dynamic DNS and HTTP302 routing via Traffic Router
Real‑time health monitoring and metrics collection with Traffic Monitor and Stats
Pros
- Comprehensive set of CDN functions in a single platform
- Modular architecture allows selective component deployment
- Extensive documentation and Apache community support
- Built on proven Apache Traffic Server caching technology
Considerations
- Components are actively developed; master branch may be unstable
- Requires separate Apache Traffic Server deployment
- Initial setup can be complex for large‑scale environments
- Limited pre‑built release stability compared to mature commercial CDNs
Managed products teams compare with
When teams consider Apache Traffic Control, these hosted platforms usually appear on the same shortlist.
Looking for a hosted option? These are the services engineering teams benchmark against before choosing open source.
Fit guide
Great for
- Enterprises building private or hybrid CDNs
- ISPs needing edge caching and traffic steering
- Developers seeking programmable CDN control via API
- Organizations preferring an open‑source CDN stack
Not ideal when
- Teams looking for an out‑of‑the‑box SaaS CDN solution
- Small websites with minimal traffic and simple caching needs
- Users without Java/Go expertise required for component maintenance
- Deployments that require guaranteed commercial support contracts
How teams use it
Video streaming platform
Delivers low‑latency video to global viewers while reducing origin bandwidth costs
Software update distribution
Efficiently propagates patches and binaries to distributed client bases
E‑commerce site
Accelerates page loads and improves shopper experience by caching assets at edge locations
Academic research network
Provides controlled data replication and fast access across multiple campus sites
Tech snapshot
Go58%
TypeScript10%
JavaScript9%
Java7%
HTML6%
Python3%
Frequently asked questions
What license does Apache Traffic Control use?
It is released under the Apache License 2.0.
Which caching software does Traffic Control rely on?
It builds around Apache Traffic Server for caching.
What are the main components of the platform?
Traffic Ops (API), Traffic Portal (GUI), Traffic Router, Traffic Monitor, and Traffic Stats.
How do I get started with a fresh installation?
Clone the repository, follow the installation scripts for each component, and configure Traffic Ops to manage your Traffic Server edge nodes.
Project at a glance
Active- Stars
- 1,160
- Watchers
- 1,160
- Forks
- 352
LicenseApache-2.0
Repo age9 years old
Last commit2 months ago
Primary languageGo
Last synced 2 hours ago