---
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
---

[Skip to content](#%5Ftop) 

# Changelog

New updates and improvements at Cloudflare.

[ Subscribe to RSS ](https://developers.cloudflare.com/changelog/rss/index.xml) [ View RSS feeds ](https://developers.cloudflare.com/fundamentals/new-features/available-rss-feeds/) 

![hero image](https://developers.cloudflare.com/_astro/hero.CVYJHPAd_26AMqX.svg) 

[ ← Back to all posts ](https://developers.cloudflare.com/changelog/) 

## 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/).