Cloudflare is often mentioned, but many don’t fully understand it. It is a key tool in online infrastructure. It’s essential for many websites. Cloudflare boosts site performance, speeds up access, and improves the user experience. 

But what is Cloudflare exactly? Why do so many websites use it? Are there any drawbacks? This article will answer these questions and more.

What is Cloudflare?

Cloudflare is an American company. It provides services like DNS, a content delivery network (CDN), and other features to make websites faster and safer. Over 26 million websites use Cloudflare. This means it handles more than 1 billion IP addresses every day.

Matthew Prince, Lee Holloway, and Michelle Zatlyn founded Cloudflare in 2009. They aimed to create a better internet. To achieve this, they launched many free and paid services. By 2019, Cloudflare had a turnover of over 287 million dollars.

The founders were involved in Project Honey Pot, an open-source project that collected data from IP addresses to fight spam and fraud. In 2010, they moved from Project Honey Pot to create Cloudflare. They wanted not just to track malicious behavior but to prevent it.

Cloudflare’s goal was to secure websites against threats without slowing them down. They developed advanced caching and removed bad traffic like bots. This approach led to their vision of building a better internet.

Cloudflare offers many services, including:

  • Content Delivery Network (CDN)
  • Domain Name System (DNS)
  • Load Balancing
  • Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP)
  • Caching
  • Video Streaming
  • DDoS protection
  • Web Application Firewall (WAF)
  • SSL/TLS support
  • DNSSEC
  • Analytics
  • Domain registration
  • Workers for developers

Cloudflare integrates easily with platforms like IBM Cloud, WordPress, Google Cloud, Magento, and Kubernetes.

How does Cloudflare work?

To understand how Cloudflare works, let’s look at common issues websites have faced in the past.

Without Cloudflare, when someone visits a website, they request content directly from the server. If many visitors access the site at the same time, the server can get overloaded. This leads to slow or non-working websites. For a website owner, this is a problem.

Cloudflare came up with a solution. They placed their own servers between the website and the web server. These servers form a large global network. Now, visitors don’t connect directly to the web server. Instead, they connect to the Cloudflare network, which stores the website content. The network then loads the content from a server closest to the visitor’s location.

For example, if your website is hosted in England and someone from Australia visits it, the request travels a long distance. Cloudflare’s network reduces this distance. The visitor connects to the nearest Cloudflare server in Australia instead of the one in England. 

This setup lightens the load on the main server. It also ensures that visitors can access the website faster.

Why You Should Use Cloudflare

There are several reasons to consider using Cloudflare. One of the main benefits is faster content load times. This is important for all types of websites, whether it’s a blog, a WordPress site, or an e-commerce store on Shopify.

Speed is important. No one likes to wait for a webpage to load. Edge computing, which brings data closer to users, is becoming more popular. Cloudflare fits well into this trend.

Security is another key advantage. Cloudflare can reduce bot activity, prevent DDoS attacks, and stop comment spam. It helps keep your website online by filtering out bad traffic. This ensures that only legitimate visitors get through. For more on this, check out our guide on DDoS attacks.

Using Cloudflare also reduces server load and bandwidth usage. A CDN in front of your website can handle large amounts of traffic. This lowers the risk of crashes during busy times.

Even if you don’t have a website yet, Cloudflare’s DNS services are useful. Third-party DNS services often focus on security and performance. They can prevent ISP snooping, tracking, and targeted ads.

While third-party DNS services offer some security features, it’s still a good idea to use a VPN for maximum protection. If you’re not familiar with DNS, you can learn more in our guide on DNS records.

Benefits of Cloudflare 

  • DNSSEC verifies DNS responses, protecting against DNS spoofing and cache poisoning
  • The Web Application Firewall (WAF) guards against threats like SQL injection, cross-site scripting, and DDoS attacks
  • HTTP/2 allows parallel loading of page elements, speeding up website load times. Cloudflare supports HTTP/2 by default
  • Cloudflare provides free SSL certificates, securing data between your site and visitors. This improves security and boosts search engine rankings
  • Compresses and resizes images to speed up loading times and reduce bandwidth usage
  • Minifies HTML, CSS, and JavaScript files to remove unnecessary characters and improve load times
  • Stores site content on users’ devices, allowing faster loading on future visits
  • Enables real-time communication for features like live chat and notifications
  • Distributes traffic across multiple servers to prevent overload 
  • Maintains responsiveness during high traffic periods
  • Limits the number of requests a user can make in a given time, protecting against DDoS attacks and other malicious traffic
  • Ensures efficient data transmission through Cloudflare’s global network
  • Allows customization of settings for specific pages to optimize performance and security
  • Ensures your original URL appears in Google AMP search results, maintaining brand identity and search rankings
Cloudflare
Speed, security, and reliability—Cloudflare has your website covered! Source: Cloudflare

How to Get Cloudflare

Activating Cloudflare is easy. You don’t need to change any hardware or code. Just follow these steps:

  • Create an Account

Sign up on the Cloudflare website.

  • Select a Plan

Choose a plan that suits your needs. There is a free plan and several paid plans for businesses.

  • Choose Websites to Protect

Update the DNS settings of your websites to point to Cloudflare.

Some web hosts, like HostPapa and DreamHost, offer free Cloudflare integration. If your host supports it, you can enable Cloudflare directly from their control panel.

Cloudflare Costs Explained

Cloudflare offers various features for free, including CDN, basic caching, and DDoS protection.

To access all of Cloudflare’s services, consider upgrading to the Pro version for $20 per month. This upgrade includes automatic image compression, Cloudflare’s WAF, mobile optimization, and more. Additionally, you can purchase add-ons separately.

Here are the subscription options for Cloudflare:

  • Free
  • Pro: $20 per month
  • Business: $200 per month
  • Enterprise: Pricing is available on request

Services

Cloudflare offers a wide range of services. They are aimed at enhancing internet performance and security. Here are some of them:

Cloudflare DNS

One of its core offerings is Cloudflare DNS. It translates domain names into IP addresses. This ensures fast response times and high redundancy. It has advanced security features like DDoS protection and DNSSEC. With a global network spanning over 200 servers, Cloudflare guarantees 100% uptime. This provides strong protection against malicious IP addresses worldwide.

Web Application Firewall (WAF)

Another crucial service is the Web Application Firewall (WAF). It is ideal for organizations seeking to safeguard their websites and applications from cyberattacks. It doesn’t require the alteration of existing infrastructure. Users can customize protection rules via the WAF dashboard. This allows the prompt blocking of suspicious requests. It ensures legitimate traffic reaches its destination. Features like the OWASP Core Ruleset offer standard protection against common web vulnerabilities like SQL injection and XSS.

Content Delivery Network (CDN)

Cloudflare’s Content Delivery Network (CDN) is another cornerstone service. It optimizes website loading speeds by directing users to the nearest Cloudflare server. This minimizes latency and enhances the user experience, which is crucial for globally oriented websites. The CDN includes a powerful caching module. It reduces server load by storing frequently accessed content locally, configurable according to specific caching rules set by users. 

SSL/TLS encryption

In terms of security, Cloudflare also provides SSL/TLS encryption. This secures data transmissions and ensures websites comply with modern security standards. Websites hosted on Cloudflare benefit from enhanced security protocols. This improves trustworthiness and search engine visibility.

Independent tests consistently show Cloudflare DNS outperforming competitors, with an average response time of 4.98 ms in 72% of cases. This underscores its reliability and efficiency on a global scale.

Serverless Computing

Serverless computing enables developers to create and operate applications without handling the infrastructure beneath them. Cloudflare offers solutions in this field:

Cloudflare workers

These let developers deploy applications using JavaScript, Rust, and C/C++. It improves speed and performance by reducing latency.

Durable objects

This feature supports stateful serverless computing. It enables real-time updates and coordination across devices worldwide.

Other tools/services include

  • Argo: This service optimizes web traffic by routing it across Cloudflare’s global network.
  • Stream: A platform for embedding, streaming, and monetizing videos on websites and apps. It  simplifies video management for developers.
  • Access: Enables secure application access using multiple identity providers. It eliminates the need for a VPN.
  • Registrar: Cloudflare’s domain registration service ensures secure domain management with advanced security features.
  • Load balancing: It distributes web traffic across multiple servers to prevent overload. It ensures smooth user experiences.

These services demonstrate Cloudflare’s comprehensive approach to enhancing web infrastructure.

Cloudflare
A faster, safer web starts with Cloudflare. Is your site protected? Source: Dribble

Cloudflare’s Zero Trust

Cloudflare’s Zero Trust approach addresses evolving cyber threats by emphasizing secure data protection and web access. Here are its key components:

Zero Trust for Applications

Cloudflare’s architecture assumes no inherent trust. It requires authentication across a global network to transcend geographical boundaries. This facilitates the smooth onboarding of third-party users. It ensures transparency through detailed event logging.

Secure Web Gateway

Acts as a vigilant internet watchdog within organizations. It enforces acceptable use policies, blocks risky sites using custom blocklists and uses threat intelligence. It enhances visibility and security in SaaS applications.

Remote Browsing Solution

Enhances browsing speed and reliability by executing browser code in the cloud, thereby reducing end-user device load. It provides strong protection against cyber threats and ensures a smooth, fast user experience.

Cloud Access Security Broker (CASB)

It safeguards data stored in cloud applications. It protects against insider threats and unauthorized application use. It promotes data leak prevention and compliance adherence.

Data Loss Prevention (DLP) 

It focuses on safeguarding data during transit. It detects sensitive information movement to and from SaaS applications in real-time. It offers predefined DLP profiles for quick setup and detailed activity logging or blocking.

Cloudflare API

Empowers developers and users with tools to manage Cloudflare configurations programmatically. It supports automation and integration and provides security and performance monitoring capabilities. This ensures continuous website status awareness.

API Authentication Methods

Cloudflare ensures secure API interactions with authentication methods. These include:

  • X-Auth-Email: Identifies the account initiating the API call
  • X-Auth-Key: Validates the API key for secure access
  • X-Auth-User-Service-Key: Provides an alternative key type for authentication
  • Bearer Auth: Uses secure token-based authentication to verify requests. These methods safeguard data integrity and ensure the authenticity of requests in Cloudflare’s API interactions

Websites Using Cloudflare

Many well-known websites utilize Cloudflare’s services. Some notable examples include: 

  • Hubspot
  • Medium
  • Gitlab
  • Udemy
  • Upwork
  • Fiverr
  • Adyen
  • TheNextWeb
  • Yelp

Security Concerns and Criticisms

Cloudflare, like many tech companies, faces controversy despite its security focus. In 2017, it experienced a significant issue known as Cloudbleed. This bug stemmed from an HTML parser error, causing data to leak due to corrupted memory. Search engines like Bing and Google even indexed this leaked data. It affected up to 150 customers, including Discord and Patreon.

Earlier, in 2012, hackers exploited Google’s systems to hijack 4chan’s domain via Cloudflare’s DNS. This incident highlighted vulnerabilities in Cloudflare’s security infrastructure.

Cloudflare has also been criticized for its stance on net neutrality and free speech. It faced backlash when it eventually removed the hate speech site Daily Stormer from its platform. CEO Matthew Prince explained this decision in a blog post, emphasizing the challenges of balancing internet infrastructure with content moderation responsibilities.

With its innovative approach and global reach, Cloudflare continues to play a crucial role in shaping a faster, safer internet experience for users and businesses alike.

Whether you’re looking to speed up your site with a CDN, protect against cyber threats, or improve the user experience, Cloudflare has the tools you need. Take advantage of their free plan or choose from their premium options to suit your business needs. Secure your online presence with Cloudflare today! Visit our website for more.

For more similar blogs, visit EvolveDash today!

FAQs

  1. Does Cloudflare affect SEO?

Yes, Cloudflare can improve SEO by making websites faster and more secure. Google prioritizes speed and security in its ranking factors. With Cloudflare’s CDN, caching, and image optimization, pages load faster, which can improve search rankings. Additionally, its SSL/TLS encryption enhances website security, which also contributes to better SEO.

  1. Can Cloudflare protect against all types of cyberattacks?

Cloudflare provides strong protection against common threats like DDoS attacks, malicious bots, and SQL injection. However, no security solution is 100% foolproof. Advanced threats, zero-day vulnerabilities, or attacks targeting specific applications may still pose risks. It’s best to use Cloudflare along with other security measures like strong passwords and regular software updates.

  1. Is Cloudflare only for large businesses?

No, Cloudflare offers plans for businesses of all sizes, including a free plan suitable for small websites and personal blogs. The free version provides essential security and performance features, while paid plans offer advanced options for enterprises and high-traffic websites.

  1. Does Cloudflare slow down websites?

No, Cloudflare is designed to improve website speed. By using a global CDN, caching, and optimized routing, Cloudflare reduces latency and speeds up content delivery. However, improper settings or conflicts with other services can sometimes cause performance issues. Tweaking configurations can help optimize speed.

  1. Can I use Cloudflare with any web hosting provider?

Yes, Cloudflare works with most web hosting providers. It only requires changing your DNS settings to route traffic through its network. Some hosting providers also offer built-in Cloudflare integration for easier setup.