How Much Traffic Can BGP High-Defense Mitigate: What Determines the Limit, What Happens When Exceeded, and How Much to Buy

The mitigation capacity of BGP high-defense has no universal number: a single node typically handles tens to hundreds of Gbps, while Anycast distributed architectures can reach several Tbps across the network. What truly determines how much you can withstand are node bandwidth, scrubbing device processing power, and the committed and elastic specifications in your contract; exceeding the limit results in IP blackholing. This article provides steps to estimate mitigation specifications and questions to ask during procurement.