---
title: "Points of Presence"
description: "Learn about Pangolin's global network of points of presence and how they provide highly available, low-latency access to your applications"
---

Pangolin's points of presence (PoPs) are strategically located servers around the world that serve as entry points for user traffic to your applications. They form the foundation of Pangolin's distributed architecture, providing global high availability and optimal performance.

## Contact Us

For hybrid deployments, points of presence, and high availability contact us:
- **Email**: [numbat@fossorial.io](mailto:numbat@fossorial.io)

## What Are Points of Presence?

Points of presence are geographically distributed servers that:

- **Serve as Entry Points**: Handle incoming user requests before routing them to your applications
- **Provide Global Coverage**: Located worldwide to minimize latency for users in different regions
- **Enable High Availability**: Multiple locations ensure your applications remain accessible even if individual locations fail
- **Handle Authentication**: Verify user identity and enforce access policies before allowing access

<Info>
Think of points of presence as the "front doors" to your applications - users connect to the closest one, and it securely routes their requests to your backend services.
</Info>

## How Points of Presence Work

### Geographic Routing

When a user requests access to your application:

1. **DNS Resolution**: The user's request is automatically routed to the closest available point of presence
2. **Authentication**: The point of presence verifies the user's identity and permissions
3. **Tunnel Routing**: Authenticated requests are sent through secure tunnels to your applications
4. **Response Delivery**: Responses follow the same path back to the user

<Check>
This routing happens automatically and transparently - users always get the best possible performance without any manual configuration.
</Check>

### Automatic Failover

Pangolin's points of presence provide built-in high availability:

- **Health Monitoring**: Each point of presence continuously monitors its health and connectivity
- **Automatic Failover**: If one location becomes unavailable, traffic automatically routes to the next closest location
- **Load Distribution**: Traffic is automatically balanced across multiple locations to prevent overload
- **Global Redundancy**: Multiple points of presence ensure your applications remain accessible during regional outages

## Advantages of Points of Presence

### Global Performance

- **Low Latency**: Users connect to the geographically closest point of presence
- **Optimized Routing**: Automatic selection of the best available location
- **Edge Computing**: Processing happens closer to users for faster response times

### High Availability

- **Fault Tolerance**: No single point of failure - if one location goes down, others remain available
- **Automatic Recovery**: Failed locations are automatically bypassed and traffic is rerouted
- **Regional Redundancy**: Multiple locations per region provide additional redundancy

### Security and Compliance

- **Distributed Security**: Security controls are enforced at every point of presence
- **Regional Compliance**: Points of presence can be configured to meet regional data requirements
- **Encrypted Transit**: All traffic between points of presence and your applications is encrypted

### Scalability

- **Automatic Scaling**: New points of presence are automatically added as needed
- **Load Balancing**: Traffic is distributed across multiple locations to handle high volumes
- **Global Distribution**: Support for applications with users worldwide

## Deployment Models

### Pangolin Cloud

Pangolin Cloud includes a global network of points of presence that provide:

- **Automatic Management**: Points of presence are automatically deployed, monitored, and maintained
- **Global Coverage**: Strategic locations worldwide for optimal performance
- **Built-in High Availability**: Multiple redundant locations ensure 99.9%+ uptime
- **Zero Configuration**: No setup or management required on your part

<Card title="Try Pangolin Cloud" icon="cloud" href="https://pangolin.fossorial.io/auth/signup">
  Get started with Pangolin Cloud and experience global points of presence with automatic high availability.
</Card>

### Self-Hosted Pangolin

Self-hosted Pangolin operates as a single point of presence:

- **Single Location**: Your Pangolin instance serves as the only entry point
- **Limited Availability**: No built-in redundancy - if your server goes down, access is lost
- **Manual Management**: You're responsible for server maintenance and uptime
- **Regional Limitation**: Performance depends on your server's location

<Warning>
Self-hosted Pangolin provides only a single point of presence and is not highly available. Consider Pangolin Cloud or hybrid deployment for production environments requiring high availability.
</Warning>

### Hybrid Deployment

Hybrid deployment allows you to host your own points of presence while leveraging Pangolin's cloud coordination:

- **Your Infrastructure**: Host points of presence on your own servers or cloud infrastructure
- **Cloud Coordination**: Pangolin Cloud handles failover logic and coordination between your points of presence
- **Automatic Failover**: If your points of presence go down, traffic automatically fails over to Pangolin Cloud
- **Data Control**: Traffic flows through your servers, giving you control over data transit costs and privacy
- **Custom Locations**: Deploy points of presence in specific regions or data centers of your choice

<Tip>
Hybrid deployment is ideal for organizations that need high availability while maintaining control over their infrastructure and data transit.
</Tip>
