Case Study: OpenStreetMap scales global map delivery and improves cache performance with Fastly

OpenStreetMap boosts CDN cache hit ratio to 92% with Fastly

OpenStreetMap, a global nonprofit provider of free geographic data built by a community of contributors, faced significant infrastructure challenges in delivering reliable map data to millions of users worldwide. Their own content delivery network was unsustainable and struggled to handle global traffic patterns and unexpected spikes from major applications like Pokémon Go. To manage their complex content distribution needs, they turned to vendor Fastly and its CDN services.

By implementing Fastly's CDN, OpenStreetMap gained the ability to customize controls using VCL to manage traffic and prevent abusive access from AI data scrapers. The solution resulted in a 92% cache hit ratio, dramatically offloading their backend servers. Fastly also provided the edge cloud platform for their new vector tile service, enabling near real-time data updates and richer user experiences. This allows the small volunteer team to focus on improving map data while Fastly ensures reliable, global delivery.

OpenStreetMap