From the course: Networking Foundations: IP Addressing

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Anycast addressing

Anycast addressing

From the course: Networking Foundations: IP Addressing

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Anycast addressing

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- [Instructor] An anycast address is a unicast IPv4 or IPv6 address that identifies a different host depending on the location of the client system attempting to reach the anycast address. This is a very unique configuration. Just think about this. You have multiple different machines all having the same IPv4 or IPv6 address. This is normally not permitted, but it's exactly what happens with anycast addressing. You accomplish this by configuring internet routers to advertise the same unicast routes from multiple locations in the internet. An anycast address refers not to a single host remember, but the closest single host that is responding to the anycast address. Anycast addressing is used most frequently for finding a computer that provides a common service. For example, you might use an anycast approach to provide DNS service using DNS servers scattered all over the globe.

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