Content Delivery Network

A CDN is a distributed network of servers that delivers web content to users based on their geographic location. Cloudflare operates one of the largest CDNs, spanning 330+ cities in 120+ countries.

Key Ideas

• CDNs cache static content (images, CSS, JS) at edge servers closer to users
• Cloudflare's CDN also accelerates dynamic content through intelligent routing (Argo Smart Routing)
• Automatic SSL/TLS termination at the edge improves performance and security
• Cache rules are configurable via Cache Rules, Page Rules, or Cloudflare Workers

Cloudflare-specific

• Cloudflare's CDN acts as a reverse proxy — all traffic passes through before reaching the origin
• Cache Reserve extends caching to persistent storage (R2) for long-term caching
• Argo Smart Routing finds the fastest path between Cloudflare edge and the origin
• Tiered Cache reduces origin load by grouping edge nodes into tiers

Related

• Ssl Tls — Encryption at the edge
• Optimize Caching — Tuning cache behavior
• Cloudflare — Platform overview