Cloudflare just pulled off an impressive engineering feat: it freed up 100 terabytes of RAM behind its wildly popular 1.1.1.1 DNS service without adding a single new server to the mix.

The optimization work centered on Big Pineapple, Cloudflare's DNS caching platform that powers not just 1.1.1.1 but also DNS Firewall and several other DNS services. By rethinking how data is stored and managed, the team achieved massive efficiency gains—proving that sometimes the smartest tech innovations come from doing more with what you already have. Read the full story →

Today's takeaway: Smart software optimization can deliver the same performance benefits as hardware upgrades, saving resources and keeping internet infrastructure running faster for everyone.