---
title: Smart Tiered Cache optimizes Load Balancing Pools
description: Smart Tiered Cache now selects a common tiered data center for Load Balancing Pools to increase cache hit ratio.
image: https://developers.cloudflare.com/changelog-preview.png
---

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## Smart Tiered Cache optimizes Load Balancing Pools

Jan 08, 2025 

[ Cache / CDN ](https://developers.cloudflare.com/cache/) 

You can now achieve higher cache hit rates and reduce origin load when using [Load Balancing](https://developers.cloudflare.com/load-balancing/) with [Smart Tiered Cache](https://developers.cloudflare.com/cache/how-to/tiered-cache/). Cloudflare automatically selects a single, optimal tiered data center for all origins in your Load Balancing Pool.

#### How it works

When you use [Load Balancing](https://developers.cloudflare.com/load-balancing/) with [Smart Tiered Cache](https://developers.cloudflare.com/cache/how-to/tiered-cache/), Cloudflare analyzes performance metrics across your pool's origins and automatically selects the optimal Upper Tier data center for the entire pool. This means:

* **Consistent cache location**: All origins in the pool share the same Upper Tier cache.
* **Higher HIT rates**: Requests for the same content hit the cache more frequently.
* **Reduced origin requests**: Fewer requests reach your origin servers.
* **Improved performance**: Faster response times for cache HITs.

#### Example workflow

```
Load Balancing Pool: api-pool├── Origin 1: api-1.example.com├── Origin 2: api-2.example.com└── Origin 3: api-3.example.com    ↓Selected Upper Tier: [Optimal data center based on pool performance]
```

#### Get started

To get started, enable [Smart Tiered Cache](https://developers.cloudflare.com/cache/how-to/tiered-cache/) on your zone and configure your [Load Balancing Pool](https://developers.cloudflare.com/load-balancing/).

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