Behind every great website is a great host. Back in the old days, that was all you needed. However, as the internet has evolved, data usage has exploded to astronomic levels. This surge of bandwidth requirements left primary web servers slow and vulnerable to DDoS attacks, creating unmitigated data security holes in the process.
These days, you'll need more than a simple server if you want to exist safely on the internet. In fact, it's not just websites anymore; apps and SaaS services are also hosted on the cloud. If you have multiple online ecosystems operating at once, protection and speed can become major issues.
Cloudflare bridges your web host and the internet, functioning as a content delivery system (CDS) and providing comprehensive site protection.
Not only does Cloudflare act as a CDS, but it also acts as a reverse proxy and firewall for your entire online ecosystem. In the CDS and DDoS mitigation technology world, Cloudflare is king—and that's not hyperbole. Cloudflare currently handles web requests for more than 20% of the entire internet—leaps and bounds over any competitor.
What's the secret?
Cloudflare focuses on advancing and innovating both aspects of their software—comprehensive DDoS attack mitigation and speedy content delivery—equally. This approach keeps domains running smoothly above and below the surface, pushing the boundaries of what one expects from a dual service.
And Cloudflare does it well.
First, their DDoS protection is rock solid—regularly preventing some of the internet's most aggressive attacks. Cloudflare uses a proactive approach to finding security threats, effectively stopping attacks before they start by constantly sniffing out the network with crawlers. Last year, Cloudflare prevented a 2.5Tbps attack on a massive Minecraft server called Wynncraft. The attack, one of the largest ever recorded, attempted to blast the server with UDP and TCP flood packets for more than two minutes. The reason? To ruin the day of folks playing a video game.
These terabyte-sized DDoS attacks are becoming increasingly common, but the targets are becoming less benign. Cloudflare is transparent with attack data and even publishes quarterly reports on its blog. According to their numbers, HTTP-based attacks have increased 111% over the last year, and Layer 3/4 attacks increased 97%—essentially doubling. Luckily, Cloudflare has never met an attack it couldn't mitigate.
Second, Cloudflare has the fastest servers in the world—literally. They own 1.1.1.1, and anyone can use it. On top of that, Cloudflare's CDN edge servers are strategically located geographically, keeping your content as close to the requesting client machine as possible. Lucky for us, Cloudflare has servers in 270 cities worldwide, giving end users lightning-fast access to content from anywhere. This setup eliminates slow load times and overworked servers while reducing bandwidth costs at the origin host server—sometimes up to 50% or more.
Here's a neat fact for you: A recent study by Google concluded that website latency of just 100ms can significantly impact potential sales. That's right. A slow website is damaging to your bottom line.
Cloudflare works by sitting between your domain and your host, delivering your website's content directly from their geographically strategic CDN edge servers. Each CDN edge server stores a cached version of the content, updated when a new request is made and delivered to the end user. When you use Cloudflare, the only data transferred on your host server is between itself and Cloudflare. Requesting machines never make contact with your origin host.
There is no need to worry about encryption either—Cloudflare will generate a new universal SSL certificate for your domain. Your original SSL will remain active, encrypting the traffic between Cloudflare and your origin server.
Integrating a website into Cloudflare takes just minutes and requires no technical expertise. All you have to do is link Cloudflare to your host, then redirect your domain to Cloudflare's nameservers—that's it. It usually resolves in about 30 seconds, and your website is ready to go.
Cloudflare offers a freemium model that allows you to test many of its services free of charge, so entry is at no risk. However, when you're ready to upgrade, the Business and Enterprise tiers offer significantly more critical features. Some are especially beneficial for income-focused websites, like direct technical support, advanced threat detection, and network prioritization.
For every segment, vertical, or industry—Cloudflare fits any model. So, what are you waiting for? Contact us at Hypershift to speak with one of our experts and start your journey with Cloudflare today.