1

Network Topology

Content Caching requires RFC 1918 IP addresses (10.0.0.0/8, 172.16.0.0/12, 192.168.0.0/16) or in macOS Sonoma, iOS 17, and iPadOS 17 and later RFC 6598 IP addresses (100.64.0.0/10). IPv6 addressing is not supported by Content Caching.

Carrier Grade NAT is supported for both clients and macOS Content Cache servers, provided all devices are running macOS Sonoma or later and iOS 17, iPadOS 17, or later.
Public IP Addresses
Optional

Enter numbers only, e.g. 7925 not AS7925

Please enter a valid ASN number, e.g. 7925

2

Network, Buildings, and Data Centers

Set the number of buildings in Section 1 to configure building details.

3

Hardware and Caching

Caching type required
This is the most common Content Caching deployment type. At each internet demarcation, or data center where internet is provided for the rest of the network, there should be 2 content caching servers for shared content. Typically we recommend a minimum SSD drive with 1 TB capacity. Using a smaller drive means assets will be purged from the cache sooner. Shared Content caching servers required are shown in blue.
It is rare to have an iCloud Content only deployment because shared assets like OS and app updates are the most common and are generally needed in all deployments. iCloud Content caching is common in 1:1 deployments where iCloud documents and photos are actively used on the network. At each internet demarcation, or data center where internet is provided for the rest of the network, there should be 2 content caching servers for personal content. Typically we recommend an SSD drive with 2 TB capacity to allow more content to be stored in the cache for users. iCloud Content caching servers required are shown in purple.
When deploying both Shared and iCloud Content Caching, completely separate servers for each content type should be used due to the nature of the cached assets. The recommended servers at each location will be split equally with half of the servers dedicated to Shared Content (shown in blue) and the second half dedicated to iCloud Content (shown in purple).
NIC speed of available server hardware required
A 10 Gbps NIC is recommended for optimal Content Caching performance. With a sub-10 Gbps NIC, one additional caching server will be added to the recommendation for each building.
4

Server Settings

These settings populate the MDM Profile and DDM Declaration tabs. Reference: ContentCaching documentation

General settings (MDM and DDM)

Automatically activate Content Caching and prevent users from disabling it

Prevent the server from sleeping while Content Caching is active

Log the IP address and port number of clients that request cached content

TCP port used for client connections to the Content Cache (0 = random)

bytes (0 = unlimited / max drive space)

Maximum number of bytes of disk space to use for cached content (e.g. 250 GB = 250000000000)

Automatically enable tethered caching (Internet Sharing clients can use this cache)

Prevent tethered clients (Internet Sharing) from using this Content Cache

Declarative management only (DDM)

URL endpoint where the Content Cache sends status reports

seconds (60–86400, default 300)

How often the server sends status updates to the management endpoint

ManagementSecurityConfig

Certificate validation policy for the management status endpoint

Recommendation

Further Reading