Everything you need to know about Cloudflare.

Cloudflare aims to build a better internet. And many of the most popular websites — including Amazon, Netflix and Facebook — are using it.

But what is Cloudflare and what can you use it for? In this guide, we explain everything business owners need to know about Cloudflare. We’ll be answering the following questions:

• What is Cloudflare?
• What does Cloudflare do?
• How does Cloudflare work?
• What are the benefits of Cloudflare?

So let’s dive right in.

What is Cloudflare?

Cloudflare is an American company that provides content delivery network (CDN), domain name system (DNS) and cloud security services. It makes websites faster and helps keep them secure.

The company (in its current form) was established in 2009 and — since then — its popularity has skyrocketed. Just take a look at these Cloudflare stats:

• Cloudflare currently powers over 14 million live websites
• 20.5% of all websites use Cloudflare servers
• 1 in 6 websites use Cloudflare CDN

You’ve likely used a website powered by Cloudflare. And your own business website may benefit from Cloudflare services, too.

What does Cloudflare do?

Cloudflare provides a range of services for website developers and owners. Primary Cloudflare services include:

• Content delivery network (CDN) service
• Domain name system (DNS) service
• Domain name registrar service
• Security services

Let’s look at these services in a little more detail.

CDN service

Cloudflare’s content delivery network (CDN) helps serve your website to users quickly, no matter where they’re located.

Your website is stored on your primary server. Cloudflare operates a network of additional servers, all around the world. These servers store copies of your website. When a user tries to access your website, Cloudflare’s CDN directs them to the nearest server in the network.

DNS Service

Users access websites through domain names ­— like radicalwebdesign.co.uk. But web browsers recognise websites by their Internet Protocol (IP) address. This IP is a unique combination of numbers.

A DNS acts as a translator between users and web browsers. It translates domain names to IP addresses so users don’t have to remember a complicated string of numbers.

Domain name registrar and SSL service

You can use Cloudflare to find and pay for a website domain name. In our opinion, it’s the best place to buy a domain name because it has a transparent pricing policy. Cloudflare charges the same renewal price each year. Many other companies offer a low first-year price before raising their costs.

You can also use Cloudflare to get a secure sockets layer (SSL) certificate. This provides extra security for your website. It also proves your security credentials with a little padlock symbol. This padlock appears in a browser search bar and acts as a website trust signal.

Security services

Cloudflare provides a range of security services to keep your website, its data and your users safe. These include distributed denial of service (DDoS) protection and a web application firewall (WAF).

How does Cloudflare work?

It’s important to clarify that Cloudflare services don’t replace your web host. So you still need a hosting service.

Rather than hosting your website, Cloudflare CDN caches the website content from your primary server. It copies content and puts it on its vast network of servers in hundreds of data centres across the world.

This process helps you to avoid many of the pain points associated with traditional hosting. Because Cloudflare servers sit between the host server and the website user, you add an extra layer of security. You can also use this network to make your website faster and more reliable.

What are the benefits of Cloudflare?

Now we know about what Cloudflare does and how it works, let’s explore all the reasons you might choose to use Cloudflare services for your business website. Here are six key benefits of Cloudflare.

Better website speeds

The best websites have fast loading speeds. And most website users won’t wait more than a few seconds for your website to load. Websites that use Cloudflare CDN can reduce their loading speeds by up to 50%, giving users an optimal experience.

Cloudflare speeds up your website in three main ways:

• Optimising file sizes and types
• Reducing the physical distance that information has to travel between the primary server and a web browser
• Providing optimised infrastructure and increased capacity

This all helps to improve the user experience on your website so your brand makes a positive impression on site visitors. Your website is reliable and fast to load, which helps improve user engagement, bounce rate and website conversions.

Unbeatable reliability

Sometimes, despite your best efforts, a website will go down. A surge in website traffic overwhelms the network. Sometimes a server fails.

Without a CDN, your website goes down and website users can’t access it. This means a dip in traffic and — if you’re running an ecommerce website — a dip in revenue.

But with a CDN, a copy of your website assets and information are stored locally. This copy isn’t affected by primary server problems and can be provided to web users without a hitch.

Cloudflare CDN can also balance the number of user requests across its network of servers. This prevents any single server from overloading. In the rare case that a single server goes down, it passes requests to a backup server in a process known as a ‘failover’.

This system ensures that your service is not interrupted by factors outside of your control. Even if an entire region’s servers go down, Cloudflare passes the workload on to others. So you experience minimal disruption, if any at all.

Enhanced security

With its WAF and SSL/TLS encryption services, Cloudflare helps keep your website safe and secure.

A WAF acts as a shield for your web apps. It monitors and filters web traffic, looking out for malicious activity and stopping it in its tracks. It can help to prevent many common cyber-attacks including:

• SQL Injection
• Cross-site scripting
• Cross-site request forgery

SSL/TLS encrypts data that is transmitted across the internet. This means that anyone trying to intercept data that travels between your website and its users will only see an incomprehensible jumble of characters. They can’t get their hands on any sensitive data.

Defence against DDoS attacks

One of the biggest Cloudflare benefits is its ability to protect sites against malicious DDoS attacks.

A DDoS attack aims to disrupt your website. By using lots of compromised computer systems, it tries to overload your website with excessive amounts of traffic. It aims to prevent your primary server from delivering your website to genuine users.

DDoS attacks are on the rise, with an average of 1,700 attacks per day in 2023. But Cloudflare’s CDN acts as a DDoS defence.

Requests sent from an attacker have to go through the CDN network first. Because this network is so huge, it can absorb massive amounts of traffic. This makes attacks ineffective and ensures your site stays up and running.

Global reach

With servers spread all over the world, all website users enjoy the same great website experience. Whether your users are based close to your primary server — or on the other side of the globe — they can count on fast loading speeds, top security and website reliability.

Reduced operational costs

This final benefit of Cloudflare may come as a surprise — but using Cloudflare can actually reduce your operational costs.

That’s because, when you use Cloudflare CDN, fewer requests go between the primary server and the website user. Most web hosts charge their users based on the amount of information they store and manage.

So by using cached versions of the data across your CDN, you reduce the amount of information that comes directly from the primary server.

Cloudflare + Radical hosting

There are loads of benefits to using Cloudflare CDN and its other web performance and security services. Every company with an online presence can benefit from using it, no matter how big or small.

Here at Radical, we’re big fans of Cloudflare software. So we’re happy to incorporate these services into your website setup.

We can also help improve the speed, security and reliability of your website in other ways. Beyond stellar web design and development, we can also support your business with hosting and ongoing support.

Our hosting and support packages are designed to work in tandem with your other security and content delivery measures to provide you with protection from all angles.

Our dedicated server promises minimal downtime and fast website speeds. And — as part of our ongoing support — we keep all software and plugins properly updated. This keeps your site secure and working as it should so you consistently deliver an exceptional service for your customers.

As standard, our hosting and support packages include:

• Hosting on a dedicated server, with weekly backups
• High performance and reliability
• 24/7 ongoing technical support

We also tailor our packages to suit your needs and your budget. So you can be confident of finding a solution that works for you.

Want to incorporate Cloudflare services into your website? Or build a new website or web app from scratch? Contact the Radical team today to chat about your project.

Cloudflare FAQs

Is Cloudflare free?

Cloudflare services are available on a selection of paid plans. However, you can access basic website performance and security features as part of a free plan.

Is Cloudflare a CDN?

Yes, Cloudflare is a CDN, also known as a content delivery network. It also provides other services including domain name system (DNS), domain registrar and web application firewall (WAF) services.

Who owns Cloudflare?

Cloudflare was founded by Lee Holloway and Matthew Prince as a software that could find and prevent email spam. The duo launched the concept under the name Project Honeypot in 2004.

Michelle Zatlyn, Cloudflare’s current COO, joined the team in 2009. At this point, the scope of the project expanded to focus on tracking internet threats and defending websites from them. Cloudflare launched as a private entity in 2010.