Cloudflare sits between your visitors and your server — caching content globally, blocking attacks, and adding SSL. This guide covers setup, cache configuration, page rules, and the security features worth enabling.
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Sign up at cloudflare.com (free plan is sufficient for most sites). Add your site, Cloudflare scans your existing DNS records. Update your domain registrar nameservers to the two Cloudflare nameservers provided. DNS propagation takes 5-30 minutes. Once active, all traffic routes through Cloudflare's network before reaching your server. Your server IP is hidden behind Cloudflare's IPs.
In Cloudflare SSL/TLS settings, set the mode to Full (Strict) if your server has a valid SSL certificate (recommended), or Full if you have a self-signed certificate. Never use Flexible mode in production — it encrypts the browser-to-Cloudflare leg but sends plaintext from Cloudflare to your server. Enable "Always Use HTTPS" and "Automatic HTTPS Rewrites" to redirect all HTTP traffic to HTTPS.
Cloudflare caches static assets automatically based on file extension. Set your Cache Level to Standard. Set Browser Cache TTL to 4 hours minimum. For aggressive caching on static pages, create a Page Rule: yourdomain.com/blog/* → Cache Level: Cache Everything + Edge Cache TTL: 1 day. Cloudflare serves cached pages from edge servers worldwide, reducing load on your origin server and cutting page load time by 40-70% for international visitors.
Cloudflare's free plan includes unmetered DDoS mitigation. Enable "Bot Fight Mode" under Security → Bots to challenge known bots. Under Security → Settings, set Security Level to Medium. Enable "Browser Integrity Check" to challenge requests without normal browser headers. These settings block the majority of automated attacks and vulnerability scanners without affecting real users.
Cloudflare Workers run JavaScript at the edge — inside Cloudflare's network, not your server. Use them for: A/B testing, geolocation-based redirects, request/response transformation, custom caching logic, and lightweight API endpoints. Workers run within 50ms of 99% of the world's internet users. The free plan includes 100,000 requests per day. This is one of the most powerful features of Cloudflare for developers.
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