---
title: Introducing Cloudflare | David Tofan
description: Get to know the global cybersecurity provider Cloudflare.
image: https://davidtofan.com/articles/cloudflare-security/featured.png
---

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Welcome to a brief introduction to Cloudflare ([NYSE: NET](https://cloudflare.net/)) – an integrated and intelligent Global Cloud (Anycast) Network.

Their mission: to help build a better Internet.

According to [Industry Analyst Highlights](https://www.cloudflare.com/analysts/), they are also market leader in the Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) architecture by providing 80% of the services on the SASE model, as well as leader in DDoS Mitigation Solutions, and more.

---

## Cloudflare in Numbers

![An Integrated Global Cloud Network](https://davidtofan.com/cdn-cgi/image/onerror=redirect,width=2084,height=2084,format=webp/_astro/cloudflare-at-a-glance-v1.C3qEnI8N.webp) *Image source: made by [Lunalabs](https://www.lunalabs.eu/) with info updated on the 20th of February.*

As of 17th of September 2021 (*updated*), there were some changes:

- +100 Tbps of global network capacity.
- Accessible via +250 Points of Presence (POPs), strategically situated across +100 countries, including mainland China.
- Handles +30 million HTTP requests per second on average, and +12 million DNS queries per second.
- Serves +27 million protected web sites and services.
- Blocks an average of +87 billion cyber threats a day (Q2’21).
- 9,800 networks directly connect to Cloudflare, including every major ISP, cloud provider, and enterprise.
- 50 ms from 95% of the world’s Internet-connected population.

Check out Cloudflare’s global [Network Map](https://www.cloudflare.com/network).

### Why choose Cloudflare

![Why customers choose Cloudflare](https://davidtofan.com/cdn-cgi/image/onerror=redirect,width=2500,height=720,format=webp/_astro/why-cloudflare.hcbMDyV7.webp)

- Shared Intelligence
- Network Scale
- Ease of Use
- No Trade Offs (Security + Performance)

---

## Cloudflare’s Solutions

See below a brief overview on Cloudflare’s integrated global cloud network.

![An Integrated Global Cloud Network](https://davidtofan.com/cdn-cgi/image/onerror=redirect,width=2730,height=1368,format=webp/_astro/Cloudflare-Services-Overview.hvQwMYzt.webp) *Image source: https://www.cloudflare.com/enterprise/*

Here is a preview of how the Cloudflare Dashboard looks like once you added your domain.

![Cloudflare Web Dashboard](https://davidtofan.com/cdn-cgi/image/onerror=redirect,width=2880,height=1644,format=webp/_astro/cloudflare-dashboard.BOVVrVBq.webp) *Image source: https://dash.cloudflare.com/*

Below you’ll find some of the most important solutions that Cloudflare offers. They are divided up the following categories:

- Security 🔐
- Performance ⚡
- Reliability 📈
- Connectivity 🔌
- Edge Developer Platform (Serverless) ☁️
- Analytics & Insights 📊
- Enterprise Security 🔑
- Privacy 🔏

### **Security**

- #### [Web Application Firewall (WAF)](https://www.cloudflare.com/waf/)
- #### [DDoS Protection](https://www.cloudflare.com/ddos/)
- #### [Bot Management](https://www.cloudflare.com/products/bot-management/)
- #### [Rate Limiting](https://www.cloudflare.com/rate-limiting/)
- #### [SSL / TLS](https://www.cloudflare.com/ssl/)
- #### [Cloudflare for SaaS](https://www.cloudflare.com/saas/)
- #### [Spectrum](https://www.cloudflare.com/products/cloudflare-spectrum/)
- #### [Cloudflare for Campaigns](https://www.cloudflare.com/campaigns/)
- #### [DNSSEC](hhttps://www.cloudflare.com/dns/dnssec/)
- #### [API Shield](https://www.cloudflare.com/apishield)
- #### [Orbit IoT protection](https://www.cloudflare.com/orbit/)

### **Performance**

- #### [Content Delivery Network (CDN)](https://www.cloudflare.com/cdn/)
- #### [China Network](https://www.cloudflare.com/china-network/)
- #### [Website Optimization](https://www.cloudflare.com/website-optimization/)
- #### [Stream](https://www.cloudflare.com/products/cloudflare-stream/)
- #### [Stream Delivery](https://www.cloudflare.com/products/stream-delivery)
- #### [Waiting Room](https://www.cloudflare.com/waiting-room/)

### **Reliability**

- #### [Argo Smart Routing](https://www.cloudflare.com/products/argo-smart-routing/)
- #### [Load Balancing](https://www.cloudflare.com/load-balancing/)
- #### [Managed DNS](https://www.cloudflare.com/dns/)
- #### [Secondary DNS](https://support.cloudflare.com/hc/en-us/articles/360001356152-Configuring-Secondary-DNS)

### **Connectivity**

- #### [Magic WAN](https://www.cloudflare.com/magic-wan/)
- #### [Cloudflare Tunnel](https://www.cloudflare.com/products/tunnel/)
- #### [Cloudflare Network Interconnect (CNI)](https://www.cloudflare.com/network-interconnect/)
- #### [Private Network Interface (PNI)](https://www.cloudflare.com/partners/peering-portal/)

### **Edge Developer Platform (Serverless)**

- #### [Workers](https://workers.cloudflare.com/)
- #### [Workers KV](https://www.cloudflare.com/products/workers-kv/)
- #### [Workers Unbound](https://www.cloudflare.com/workers-unbound-beta/)
- #### [Cloudflare Pages](https://pages.cloudflare.com/)

### **Analytics & Insights**

- #### [Analytics](https://www.cloudflare.com/analytics/)
- #### [Cloudflare Logs](https://www.cloudflare.com/products/cloudflare-logs/)
- #### [Web Analytics](https://www.cloudflare.com/web-analytics/)
- #### [Cloudflare Radar](https://radar.cloudflare.com/)
- #### [Cloudflare Speed](https://speed.cloudflare.com/)

### **Enterprise Security**

- #### [Cloudflare Gateway](https://www.cloudflare.com/teams/gateway/)
- #### [Cloudflare Access](https://www.cloudflare.com/teams/access/)
- #### [Browser Isolation](https://www.cloudflare.com/teams/browser-isolation/)
- #### [Magic Transit](https://www.cloudflare.com/magic-transit/)

### **Privacy**

- #### [Data Localization](https://www.cloudflare.com/data-localization/)
- #### [Compliance](https://www.cloudflare.com/privacy-and-compliance/)

As **honorable mentions**: [Cloudflare One](https://www.cloudflare.com/cloudflare-one/), [Trust Hub](https://www.cloudflare.com/trust-hub/), and [Cloudflare Registrar](https://www.cloudflare.com/products/registrar/) are definitely worth checking out. Additionally, you might know Cloudflare because of the free public DNS resolver [1.1.1.1](https://1.1.1.1/).

Check out the entire [Cloudflare Product Portfolio](https://www.cloudflare.com/cloudflare-product-portfolio/) (*get’s updated every so often*).

---

## More Materials

Here a list of interesting links on Cloudflare.com:

- [Blog](https://blog.cloudflare.com/)
- [Support](https://support.cloudflare.com/)
- [Learning](https://www.cloudflare.com/learning/)
- [Community](https://community.cloudflare.com/)
- [Developers – Your imagination, Cloudflare’s infrastructure](https://developers.cloudflare.com/)
- [System Status](https://www.cloudflarestatus.com/)
- [Pricing](https://www.cloudflare.com/plans/)

Learn more about Cloudflare and its solutions here:

- [Flare Ups – HHHYPERGROWTH](https://hhhypergrowth.com/flare-ups/)
- [2 Pager – Cloudflare](https://cloudflare.showpad.com/share/6mnHykeSSFAUupFxQxcC3)
- [Cloudflare YouTube Channel](https://www.youtube.com/c/cloudflare/about)
- [Cloudflare on the Edge – Stratechery](https://stratechery.com/2021/cloudflare-on-the-edge/)

If you are interested in learning more about **performance browser networking**, check out these links:

- [High Performance Browser Networking](https://hpbn.co/)

---

## Disclaimer

This is a very general introduction to Cloudflare. Educational purposes only, and this blog post does not necessarily reflect the opinions of Cloudflare. There are many more aspects to Cloudflare and its products and services – this is merely a brief educational intro. Properly inform yourself, keep learning, keep testing, and feel free to share your learnings and experiences as I do. Hope it was helpful! Images are online and publicly accessible.

---

## More on Cloudflare

- [Migrating to Cloudflare](https://davidtofan.com/articles/migrating-to-cloudflare/)
- [Cloudflare for Teams](https://davidtofan.com/articles/cloudflare-for-teams/)
- [Intro to Cloudflare Workers](https://davidtofan.com/articles/cloudflare-workers/)
- [Cloudflare Data Localization](https://davidtofan.com/articles/cloudflare-data-localization/)

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