Loading full navigation.

Autonomous IT is here. The alert loop ends now. LEARN MORE

Partners

Docs

LM Academy

LM Community

Pricing

Platform
Solution
Industry
Role
There is no result.

LOGICMONITOR BLOG

Why Intelligent Traffic Steering Is Critical for Performance and Cost Optimization

Discover how real-time performance data steers traffic to the fastest cloud and CDN endpoints, cutting latency and trimming costs with LogicMonitor and NS1.

4–6 minutes
Denton Chikura

NEWSLETTER

Subscribe to our newsletter

Get the latest blogs, whitepapers, eGuides, and more straight into your inbox.

SHARE

The quick download:

Steering traffic with real-time performance data cuts latency dramatically and lowers cloud spend.

  • Static DNS routing sends users to nearby endpoints even when those endpoints are slow, overloaded, or facing regional ISP issues

  • Feeding LogicMonitor Digital Experience IBM NS1 Connect lets routing follow live performance, shifting 77% of traffic to the better-performing cloud in one real-world rollout

  • That shift delivered an 86.57% wait-time reduction on AWS and an 85.30% reduction on Oracle while trimming overprovisioned infrastructure

  • Connect your performance data to your DNS filter chains so every routing decision reflects current conditions, not assumptions

In a world of globally distributed applications, user experience depends on how efficiently traffic reaches the right endpoint. Whether your platform runs across multiple cloud providers or uses a multi-CDN strategy with numerous points of presence (PoPs), routing decisions directly shape performance, cost, and reliability. Intelligent traffic steering has become a core operational requirement for teams managing complex digital infrastructure.

End-to-end ecosystem of a core banking system

Real-time data from LogicMonitor Digital Experience, integrated with IBM NS1 Connect’s traffic-steering capabilities, can help route traffic according to current endpoint performance. This article walks through how that integration works and the real-world performance gains it delivers.

The challenge: static routing in a dynamic world

DNS-based routing strategies like round-robin or proximity-based decisions have traditionally been used to direct user traffic. These methods don’t account for real-time performance metrics. A nearby server might be under heavy load or facing regional ISP issues, yet static routing would still send users there, resulting in higher latency and degraded experience.

This problem intensifies in multi-cloud and multi-CDN environments, where routing inefficiencies also drive up cloud and infrastructure costs. Without real-time visibility, teams are operating without the data they need to make informed routing decisions.

Regional performance differences and traffic distribution between AWS and Oracle cloud environments

The image above illustrates this challenge in a multi-cloud environment using AWS and Oracle. The global response time maps show noticeable regional performance differences between the two providers. Because traffic is routed with a static round-robin method (visible in the 52% AWS / 48% Oracle split), users in underperforming regions are still directed to slower endpoints.

For example, the Oracle path shows significant latency in North America and Oceania, while AWS performs better in those regions. Without performance-aware steering, the result is an inefficient and inconsistent user experience.

Adaptive traffic steering with LogicMonitor and IBM NS1

By combining LogicMonitor’s Global Agent Network with IBM NS1 Connect’s real-time DNS traffic steering, organizations can shift from reactive to proactive, performance-driven routing.

IPM continuously collects metrics such as DNS resolution time, connect time, SSL handshake duration, wait time, and total response time using synthetic tests from backbone, last mile, cloud, and wireless networks. This real-time telemetry is then fed into NS1’s filter chain logic.

NS1 applies this data through its intelligent filter chains, which support decisions based on geolocation, ASN, availability, and actual performance. The diagram below shows how the end user’s DNS request flows through NS1, where IPM-powered performance metrics guide the decision-making engine. The system routes traffic toward the endpoint currently meeting the selected performance criteria, factoring in real-time conditions rather than proximity alone.

How real-time metrics power intelligent traffic steering with NS1 and Internet Performance Monitoring

This feedback loop allows routing policies to respond to changes in latency and availability.

Feeding IPM data into IBM NS1 Connect

LogicMonitor pushes real-time performance telemetry directly into IBM NS1 Connect using Data Webhooks. This integration means traffic steering logic is based on real, actionable data rather than static assumptions.

Metrics such as DNS time, connect time, SSL handshake duration, wait time (time to first byte), TTFB, and overall response time are just the start. Teams can also feed in custom data sources like CDN-specific server timing metrics or application-specific performance KPIs. This flexibility lets organizations tailor traffic steering logic to their specific business and technical requirements, whether optimizing for speed, reliability, or cost.

Using Internet Performance Monitoring data in IBM NS1 Connect to compare multi-cloud performance

NS1 Pulsar’s filter chain engine consumes all of this data and dynamically applies routing rules. These filters can be chained together based on geography, ASN, latency, availability, or any of the performance metrics provided by IPM.

NS1 Pulsar filter chain powered by Internet Performance Monitoring data

This allows routing policies to reflect current performance conditions.

Real-world impact: better performance and lower costs

In a real-world implementation, traffic was initially split roughly evenly between AWS and Oracle cloud environments. After enabling dynamic routing with IPM-fed data, 77% of the traffic shifted to the better-performing cloud region, significantly reducing wait times and improving end-user experience.

Impact of traffic steering on cloud traffic distribution

The implementation produced the following reported changes:

  • 86.57% reduction in wait time on AWS
  • 85.30% reduction in wait time on Oracle

Wait time improvements after enabling performance-based traffic steering

These improvements reduce latency and, in turn, reduce the frustration and churn that come with sluggish performance.

Beyond latency improvements, performance-aware traffic steering also drives operational efficiency. By understanding which cloud or PoP performs best in specific regions, organizations can:

  • Scale down underperforming infrastructure
  • Optimize cloud costs by avoiding overprovisioning
  • Improve regional performance by directing traffic to the most efficient endpoints

Proactive visibility through synthetic testing

Most traditional monitoring tools rely on real user monitoring (RUM) data, which only becomes useful after users have experienced performance issues. LogicMonitor adds a proactive source of performance data by using synthetic testing. Traffic may be rerouted before a broader user impact occurs, depending on the monitoring interval and steering configuration.

Synthetic testing provides performance data even when no users are actively reporting an issue. LogicMonitor Synthetics and Internet Performance Monitoring can measure the Internet path between users and applications, giving teams additional context for traffic-steering decisions across multi-cloud and multi-CDN environments.

Learn more

Put real-time performance data in charge of your routing decisions

LogicMonitor delivers the live performance telemetry needed to route every request to the fastest, most cost-efficient endpoint. Reduce latency and cloud spend across your multi-cloud and multi-CDN footprint.

FAQs

How is intelligent traffic steering different from traditional DNS routing?

Traditional methods like round-robin or proximity-based routing ignore live conditions, so users can be sent to a slow or overloaded endpoint. Intelligent traffic steering uses real-time performance metrics to route each request to the endpoint currently meeting the chosen criteria, factoring in latency and availability rather than proximity alone.

What performance data feeds the routing decisions?

LogicMonitor Digital Experience collects metrics such as DNS resolution time, connect time, SSL handshake duration, wait time, TTFB, and total response time from backbone, last mile, cloud, and wireless networks. This telemetry is pushed into IBM NS1 Connect through Data Webhooks, and teams can add custom sources like CDN server timing or application KPIs.

What kind of results can teams expect?

In a real-world implementation, dynamic routing shifted 77% of traffic to the better-performing cloud region. That produced an 86.57% reduction in wait time on AWS and an 85.30% reduction on Oracle, alongside lower costs from scaling down underperforming infrastructure.

By Denton Chikura

Content Marketing Manager

Denton Chikura is a Content Marketing Manager for LogicMonitor Digital Experience, where he drives content on observability, Internet performance, and digital experience. He writes for SREs, IT operations teams, and business leaders, turning performance data into guidance they can act on.

Disclaimer: The views expressed on this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of LogicMonitor or its affiliates.

© LogicMonitor 2026 | All rights reserved. | All trademarks, trade names, service marks, and logos referenced herein belong to their respective companies.

Related Blogs

How LogicMonitor Pricing Works
Blog Observability

How LogicMonitor Pricing Works

Understand how LogicMonitor platform pricing works, from Hybrid Units to package selection, so you can estimate costs, compare options, and plan with confidence.
November 4, 2026
Learn more
What Are Domain-Specific ITOps Agents? How Specialized AI Works in IT Operations
Blog AIOps & Automation

What Are Domain-Specific ITOps Agents? How Specialized AI Works in IT Operations

Domain-specific ITOps agents are designed around the systems, data, and tasks involved in operating production IT. Learn how specialized agents work together and how Edwin AI applies them across incident investigation and response.
November 3, 2026
Learn more
Optimizing Website Performance: Harnessing the Power of Image Lazy Loading
Blog Digital Experience

Optimizing Website Performance: Harnessing the Power of Image Lazy Loading

Image lazy loading can speed up your site, or slow it down. Learn how to apply it selectively, protect Core Web Vitals, and measure the real-world impact.
October 30, 2026
Learn more