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Hot potato routing is a network policy for handing traffic to another network at the closest suitable interconnection, instead of carrying it farther across the provider’s own network to a potentially better exit. It reduces the traffic the choosing provider carries internally; it does not guarantee the shortest end-to-end route or lowest latency.
What “closest exit” means
Hot potato routing is also called closest-exit routing. The “potato” is traffic a network is carrying toward another network: like someone holding a hot potato, the provider tries to pass it on quickly. RFC 4277 describes the metaphor this way: “whoever has it tries to get rid of it quickly.” RFC 4277, section 7.1.1
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Here, closest refers to the exit point from the provider’s network—not necessarily the geographic distance between the sender and the destination. If two transit networks connect at several locations, one network can hand traffic over at the interconnection nearest to its own routing position, rather than carrying it across its network to another interconnection that may offer a more favorable onward path. RFC 4451
Hot potato and cold potato routing compared
Cold potato routing is also known as best-exit routing. Instead of handing traffic off at the provider’s closest suitable exit, the provider carries it farther within its own network to an exit the neighboring network indicates is preferable for reaching the destination.
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| Policy | Where the provider hands traffic off | Effect on the provider’s network |
|---|---|---|
| Hot potato (closest-exit) | At the closest suitable interconnection from the provider’s perspective | Seeks to minimize the provider’s own transit of the traffic |
| Cold potato (best-exit) | At an interconnection considered better for reaching the destination | May carry the traffic farther within the provider’s network |
These policies describe the provider’s choice of exit. They do not, by themselves, establish which route has lower latency, less congestion, or lower overall cost. A nearby exit for one network is not necessarily the best route end to end.
How BGP and MED relate to the choice
The RFC discussions connect hot- and cold-potato behavior with the BGP Multi-Exit Discriminator (MED). In the mechanism described in RFC 4277, hot potato routing does not pass the MED learned over EBGP into IBGP. Cold potato routing does pass it into IBGP, allowing the provider to carry traffic toward the exit the neighboring network advertises as closest to the destination. RFC 4451 also discusses MED in distinguishing closest-exit and best-exit behavior.
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This is an explanation of the RFCs’ described mechanism, not a universal configuration rule. Operators’ policies and deployments can vary.
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A BGP route reflector can select a route based on its own position in the provider’s internal network and advertise that route to clients elsewhere. As a result, a client may receive an exit that is closest to the reflector, rather than the closest exit from the client’s own location. RFC 9107 describes BGP Optimal Route Reflection (ORR), which selects routes from configured client standpoints to support policies such as hot potato routing, assuming the necessary candidate paths are available to the reflectors.
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What hot potato routing does—and does not—optimize
- It aims to reduce the provider’s internal transit burden. The provider hands traffic to the neighboring network at a nearby suitable exit rather than carrying it farther itself.
- It does not guarantee the globally shortest path. Another exit could give the neighboring network a better onward route.
- It does not guarantee lower latency or better performance. Those outcomes depend on the complete path and network conditions, not just the provider’s exit choice.
- The closest exit depends on the routing decision point. Route-reflector selection can mean that an advertised exit is not closest from every client’s perspective.
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