Norfolk and Richmond, Virginia: Cloudflare's 152nd and 153rd cities

Virginia holds a significant place in internet history, particularly Northern Virginia around Ashburn, which has been central to internet infrastructure since the early 1990s with MAE-East (Metropolitan Area Exchange East), one of the first Internet Exchange Points. These points are crucial for ISPs and other networks to exchange traffic. The area has become a data center hub, hosting many major cloud platforms. Although MAE-East no longer exists, new internet exchange points have emerged in its place. Cloudflare's second data center was established in Ashburn, Virginia, and the company continues to expand its network closer to end-users. Today, they are announcing new data centers in Richmond and Norfolk, Virginia, to cover more of the state and neighboring regions.