A CDN (content delivery network) serves copies of your site from locations close to each visitor, so pages arrive faster and your origin server does less work. On Flashcloud shared and WordPress hosting, a good part of this is already in place through Cloudflare, and you can turn on more when you need it.
What a CDN actually does
A CDN keeps cached copies of your static files (images, CSS, JavaScript, fonts) on servers spread around the world. When someone visits, those files load from the nearest location instead of traveling from a single datacenter. The result is lower latency for far-away visitors and less traffic hitting your origin.
What's already handled
Cloudflare is our DNS provider for shared and WordPress hosting, so you start with the DNS-layer benefits without setting anything up:
- Anycast DNS - domain lookups answer from the nearest Cloudflare edge, worldwide.
- DDoS protection at the DNS layer - your domain stays resolvable even when something nasty is happening upstream.
Your pages are also fast at the origin before any CDN gets involved. We run LiteSpeed Web Server with LSCache, a full-page cache that serves cached pages from memory in milliseconds, so the server itself is quick. See How we make your site fast and Our nameservers and DNS provider.
When to turn on Cloudflare's CDN (proxy mode)
To have Cloudflare cache and serve your site's content from the edge, and not only answer DNS, you enable its proxy. In DNS terms this is the "orange cloud": flip proxy on for a record and Cloudflare sits in front of your site, caching static assets and shielding your origin. On eligible plans you'll find this in the Cloudflare panel on your service page. See Our nameservers and DNS provider.
It's worth doing when:
- A large share of your visitors are far from your datacenter.
- You serve a lot of images or other static files.
- You want edge-level WAF and image optimization on top of what we already run.
For many sites the LiteSpeed and LSCache stack at the origin is already fast enough that a separate CDN adds little. Add proxy mode when geography or asset volume makes it worthwhile.
Cautions
Caching
Edge caching is great for static files and risky for dynamic pages. Don't let the CDN cache logged-in views, carts, checkout, or anything personalized, or visitors can end up seeing stale or shared content. LSCache does smart invalidation at the origin; once Cloudflare is in front, purge its cache after you publish or change a page so the edge doesn't keep serving the old version.
SSL mode
With proxy mode on, the certificate visitors see is Cloudflare's, while your origin keeps its own certificate. Set Cloudflare's SSL mode to Full so traffic is encrypted end to end. Avoid Flexible SSL, which leaves the connection between Cloudflare and your origin unencrypted. Keep HTTPS enforced on your site either way. See Forcing HTTPS on your site.