Introducing Tailscale Peer Relays

Tailscale has introduced Tailscale Peer Relays, a customer-managed traffic relaying solution that allows any Tailscale node to act as a relay for peer nodes within the same tailnet, offering an alternative to the company's managed DERP servers. This new feature is integrated into the Tailscale client and aims to provide higher throughput connections, particularly beneficial for locked-down cloud infrastructures or environments with strict network firewalls. Tailscale Peer Relays are designed to address limitations in network address translation (NAT) traversal by enabling high-throughput relay topologies that approach direct connection speeds. This solution is part of Tailscale's ongoing efforts to enhance connectivity and performance, addressing customer feedback regarding the constraints of the existing DERP relay fleet. The peer relays can be easily enabled via a command in the Tailscale CLI, and all traffic remains end-to-end encrypted using WireGuard®. Currently available as a public beta, Tailscale Peer Relays offer flexibility and scalability for various network environments, allowing customers to maintain performance benchmarks and streamline connectivity in complex network scenarios.