Cloudflare Fundamentals — Birdor Cloudflare Tutorial Series (Part 1)

Leeting Yan

November 19, 2025

Cloudflare has grown into one of the most influential platforms in modern web architecture. What began as a CDN and security provider has expanded into a full edge-compute ecosystem used by small blogs, large SaaS platforms, and high-traffic global services.

This tutorial provides a calm, straightforward overview of Cloudflare — what it does, how its global network operates, and how each product fits into a modern developer workflow.

If you’re new to Cloudflare or simply want a clearer mental model, this is the place to begin.

1. What Cloudflare Actually Provides

Cloudflare is not just a CDN. It is a broad platform offering:

DNS
CDN caching
Reverse proxying
Firewall and security layers
DDoS protection
Workers (serverless compute)
Pages (static hosting + serverless)
R2, KV, D1 storage
Zero Trust security

At a high level, Cloudflare sits between users and your origin server, or serves files directly from the edge with no origin required.

This makes Cloudflare a strong option for:

static sites
APIs
serverless apps
high-traffic websites
global deployments

For Hugo developers, Cloudflare Pages provides a clean, “low-ops” workflow.

2. The Cloudflare Global Anycast Network

At the core of Cloudflare is its Anycast network — a globally distributed system where a single IP address is served by many data centers.

How this works

A visitor makes a request to your site
DNS resolves your domain to Cloudflare’s Anycast IP
The request automatically routes to the nearest Cloudflare data center
Cloudflare either serves cached content, or forwards to your origin server
Responses return from the nearest edge location

There is no configuring regions; the network handles it automatically.

Why this matters

Lower latency
Higher availability
Automatic load balancing
Consistent performance across continents

Most developers don’t need to think about global infrastructure anymore — Cloudflare abstracts it.

3. The Three Layers of Cloudflare

Understanding Cloudflare becomes much easier when viewed as three core layers.

3.1 DNS Layer

Cloudflare operates one of the fastest and most reliable DNS services in the world.

Key features:

Instant DNS propagation
Built-in DDoS protection
DNSSEC
Optional proxying (orange cloud / grey cloud)

The DNS layer is the entry point for most Cloudflare setups.

3.2 CDN / Proxy Layer

After DNS, Cloudflare’s reverse proxy sits between the visitor and your origin server (or static site).

Cloudflare provides:

Edge caching
Smart routing
SSL termination
Brotli compression
Image optimization
Firewall and bot filtering
Rate limiting

All of these run in Cloudflare’s edge data centers, not on your server.

3.3 Compute Layer (Workers, Pages, and Functions)

Cloudflare is now also a full serverless compute platform.

Components include:

Workers: JavaScript/TypeScript executed at the edge
Pages Functions: Serverless for Cloudflare Pages
Scheduled Workers: Cron-like tasks
Durable Objects: State and coordination
KV, R2, D1: Cloudflare storage options

This makes Cloudflare capable of powering complete applications.

4. The Cloudflare Mindset: Origin Optional

A key idea in Cloudflare’s design is that the origin server is optional.

Examples:

Static sites: served all from edge cache
Hugo sites on Cloudflare Pages: no origin at all
Worker-powered APIs: compute runs at the edge
KV / D1: storage exists in Cloudflare’s network

Cloudflare shifts responsibility away from centralized servers and toward a distributed edge network. This reduces operational overhead and improves global performance.

5. Where Cloudflare Fits in Modern Architecture

Cloudflare plays different roles depending on your project.

5.1 As a CDN Layer

Ideal for:

asset delivery (CSS, JS, images)
caching HTML
reducing origin load

5.2 As a Security Layer

Protecting against:

DDoS
scraping
bot abuse
malicious traffic

5.3 As a Serverless Application Platform

Workers + KV + R2 + D1 enable fully edge-native apps.

5.4 As a Static Hosting Platform

Cloudflare Pages offers:

global deployment
built-in CI
preview environments
Functions integration

Perfect for Hugo.

6. The Cloudflare Product Map (Clear and Simple)

A calm overview of Cloudflare’s main components.

6.1 Networking

DNS
Load Balancing
Tunnel (secure exposure without public IP)

6.2 CDN & Edge

CDN caching
Argo Smart Routing
Tiered Caching
Polish and Mirage (image optimization)

6.3 Compute

Workers
Pages Functions
Durable Objects
Cron Triggers

6.4 Storage

KV (key-value)
R2 (object storage)
D1 (SQL database)
Cache API (temporary cache at edge)

6.5 Security

WAF
Bot management
Rate limiting
Page Shield
Zero Trust Access

This ecosystem is what makes Cloudflare comprehensive.

7. When Cloudflare Is a Good Fit

Cloudflare works extremely well for:

Hugo/JAMstack sites
content-heavy blogs or documentation
marketing sites
high-traffic apps
global audiences
API endpoints
low-latency interactive apps
serverless-first architectures

Cloudflare is especially suitable for developers who prefer simplicity, performance, and minimal ops burden.

8. When Cloudflare May Not Be Ideal

A balanced view:

Some advanced Node.js environments may require adaptation
Heavy compute workloads may exceed Worker limits
Very large datasets may be better suited to traditional databases
Some specialized network setups require manual routing

But for most modern web projects, Cloudflare provides a strong foundation.

9. Wrap-Up and What’s Next

In this first chapter, we established a clear picture of Cloudflare:

a global network
a CDN and proxy layer
a serverless compute platform
optional origin architecture

This foundation prepares us for deeper topics.

In Part 2, we explore DNS and domain management on Cloudflare — one of the most practical and frequently used parts of the platform.

Next article:
Cloudflare Tutorial Series — Part 2: DNS and Domain Management