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StackPath built its edge platform to put compute and network capacity closer to users and major internet exchanges, reducing the distance traffic had to travel to reach applications and services. Its historical approach combined colocated hardware, orchestration software, and carrier-connected networking. StackPath announced in June 2024 that it would close all products and liquidate its assets, so the platform is no longer a current service to buy.
Why did StackPath pursue edge computing?
StackPath’s strategy grew out of a broader infrastructure ambition. A 2018 interview described a company that had expanded from a security-as-a-service pitch through acquisitions adding capabilities including infrastructure monitoring, DDoS mitigation, web application firewall (WAF), VPN, and CDN. Its edge strategy aimed to place compute and delivery infrastructure at network intersections and nearer to end users, rather than sending every request back to distant hubs.
The company’s expansion logic also followed changes in mobile networks. StackPath expected that as carriers extended 5G beyond major cities and built facilities near cell towers, edge providers would follow them. Founder and CEO Lance Crosby put it this way: “People like me, we’ll chase the towers.” Data Center Knowledge’s 2018 interview presents this as a planned direction, not proof that every tower-adjacent deployment was completed.
How was the platform designed?
StackPath described its platform as three integrated layers: management software, distributed edge locations, and a network intended to connect those sites efficiently.
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- EdgeEngine: orchestration for provisioning and managing platform resources, edge compute, applications, and accounts through a portal and APIs.
- Edge locations: enterprise-grade compute and networking positioned in markets with dense end-user populations.
- Edge network: carrier connections, peering, Anycast, and a private backbone intended to keep traffic off the public internet where possible.
That design linked the physical placement of servers with the routes traffic could take between users and services. The brochure’s descriptions are StackPath’s own account of its architecture, not independent performance validation.
Where did StackPath place its infrastructure?
In its 2018 account, StackPath said it selected colocation facilities associated with internet exchanges, where multiple networks meet and exchange traffic. Its stated criteria were buildings with at least three carriers and/or 500 Gbps of internet traffic being exchanged. The company said it designed hardware combining compute, memory, storage, and networking to fit common data-center power constraints; those are historical design details, not a current hardware recommendation.
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StackPath reported hardware in 45 locations as of late September 2018 and a goal of reaching about 120 internet-exchange facilities. Crosby also estimated that only about 120 facilities in the world met the company’s stated criteria; that was his historical estimate in the interview, not a verified current count. A circa-2023 StackPath brochure later listed 73 locations, 43 markets, and more than 100 Tbps of egress capacity. These are company-reported figures from different dates and should not be treated as a directly comparable measure of footprint or as current capacity.
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By putting compute and network access nearer to users, StackPath aimed to reduce the distance involved in delivering content and processing requests. Its strategy also sought to use network intersections and peering to avoid routing traffic unnecessarily through remote hubs. In practical terms, the company positioned the platform for workloads and delivery services that could benefit from distributed locations and connected network paths.
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The intended deployment model depended on the application and the available network environment. Proximity to an internet exchange emphasized carrier density and peering; tower-adjacent sites were part of the planned response to carriers extending 5G into smaller markets. The relevant trade-offs were local proximity and distributed capacity versus the concentration of resources in fewer centralized hubs. StackPath’s historical materials explain the strategy but do not establish a current service or provide independent comparative performance results.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What happened to StackPath’s platform?
In June 2024, StackPath told customers it had decided to close all products and liquidate its assets for creditors, and said it would begin decommissioning services immediately. Data Center Dynamics reported the shutdown announcement; its account described affected offerings including edge compute, DNS, object storage, network transit, colocation, and server monitoring.
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Akamai’s 2025 annual filing records that it acquired selected StackPath customer contracts in August 2023 for $51.211 million, with the contracts intended to strengthen Akamai’s delivery and security businesses. Akamai’s filing documents a transfer of selected contracts; it does not establish that StackPath’s full global platform continued operating. The available evidence also does not establish the subsequent disposition of every StackPath asset or the continuing status of all transferred contracts.
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