Cloudflare is a popular platform that offers a range of services to improve website performance and security. Even with its free version, Cloudflare offers powerful features for domain management, DNS management, CDN, and more. In this article, we’ll explore how to take advantage of these features at no cost.
Domain management with Cloudflare
1. Domain Registration and Transfer
Cloudflare allows you to register domains directly via its platform, but you can also use Cloudflare to manage domains that you have purchased elsewhere. Here’s how to do it:
- Add a Domain: Log in to your Cloudflare account and go to
Add a Site. Enter your domain name to begin the configuration process. - Changing Nameservers: Once you have added your domain, Cloudflare will provide nameservers for you to configure with your current registrar. This allows Cloudflare to manage your domain’s DNS traffic.
- Domain Transfer: To transfer a domain to Cloudflare, go to
Domain Registrationand follow the instructions to initiate the transfer.
2. DNS management
DNS management on Cloudflare is intuitive and offers a number of advantages:
- Simplified management interface: The platform offers a clear interface for adding, modifying or deleting DNS records.
- DNS Record Types: You can manage various record types, including A, CNAME, MX, TXT, and more.
- Fast DNS propagation: DNS changes propagate quickly thanks to Cloudflare’s global infrastructure.
3. Security with DNSSEC
Cloudflare supports DNSSEC (Domain Name System Security Extensions) to protect your domain against cache poisoning attacks. You can activate DNSSEC in the DNS section of your Cloudflare dashboard.
Turnstile: An alternative CAPTCHA solution
1. What is Turnstile?
Turnstile is an alternative to traditional CAPTCHAs, designed to offer a smoother user experience while providing protection against bots. Unlike traditional CAPTCHAs, Turnstile does not require complex user interaction.
2. Turnstile configuration
To configure Turnstile :
- Activate Turnstile: Go to
Firewall>Toolsin your Cloudflare dashboard. - Configure Settings: You can adjust the settings to tailor the level of security to the needs of your site.
CDN (Content Delivery Network): Speed up your website
1. Cloudflare CDN features
Cloudflare offers an integrated CDN that improves website loading speed and reduces latency:
- Content Distribution: Cloudflare’s CDN distributes your content across a global network of servers to deliver faster load times to visitors, regardless of their geographic location.
- Dynamic and static caching: Cloudflare caches both static content (such as images and CSS/JS files) and dynamic content (such as HTML pages) to optimise performance.
- Content compression: Cloudflare’s compression features reduce the size of transferred files, improving loading times.
2. Performance optimisation
- Minification: Cloudflare offers minification tools to reduce the size of CSS, JavaScript and HTML files.
- Argo Smart Routing: Although this feature is only available on paid plans, the free version already offers a significant performance improvement thanks to Cloudflare’s CDN infrastructure.
Conclusion
The free version of Cloudflare offers an impressive suite of features to improve your domain management, optimise performance with a CDN, and secure your site with Turnstile. Whether you’re an individual or a small business, Cloudflare allows you to benefit from increased protection and better performance at no extra cost.
Useful links
- Official Cloudflare website
- Cloudflare documentation
- Cloudflare DNS Configuration Guide
- Information about Turnstile
Share your experiences with Cloudflare and ask your questions in the comments section!
