Knowledgebase

The questions we get most often about CDNs, in order. The first one matters most, and the answer is short.

Do you sell a CDN? Is one included in my plan?

So what does it cost?

Nothing from us, because we are not selling you anything. What it costs, or does not cost, is between you and Cloudflare, and it is written on their site. What stays the same is your invoice with us: none of this changes it. If you want to see what we charge, it is on pricing.

Do I actually need one?

It depends where your visitors are and why the site is slow. If the page is slow to build, a CDN will not fix it. Measure first: what actually makes a difference. The case by case decision is in what a CDN is and when it makes a difference.

Will it break my e-mail?

Only if you tell it to. Mail goes through no CDN: the mail records keep pointing straight at the server. Putting a mail record through the CDN breaks e-mail immediately, and it is mistake number one in this move. The full table is in Cloudflare: when it helps and how to switch it on.

Do I still need hosting?

Always. A CDN does not hold your site: it holds temporary copies of what the server gave it. With no server there is nothing to copy. Your files, your database and your mail all stay here.

Does it replace backups?

No. A cache keeps what it served yesterday so it can serve it faster today; it does not keep your site so you can put it back tomorrow. Backups remain ours and yours: restoring a backup yourself and making and keeping your own backup.

What about the certificate? Do I stop needing yours?

No. There are now two certificates: the CDN one at the door, and ours on the server. Ours is issued and renewed automatically, and it has to stay, because it is what lets the CDN talk to us over an encrypted connection. Picking the wrong encryption mode at the CDN produces an endless redirect loop, and it is the most expensive mistake in this move: switching on SSL at Cloudflare without breaking the site.

Will my statistics change?

They will. Some visits stop reaching the server, so the cPanel statistics start showing less than reality, and they show CDN addresses instead of real ones. The true counts move to their dashboard. See visitor statistics and the explanation in Cloudflare: when it helps and how to switch it on.

Who supports it if something goes wrong?

The CDN belongs to another company, and its support is theirs. We handle what is at our end: the server, the files, the mail, the certificate, the error logs. When you write to us, say straight away that you use a CDN and say which: it saves half an hour working out why what we see does not match what you see. The boundary is written in how far our support goes and on the Support Policy.

Can I put only part of the site behind the CDN?

You can: the decision is made record by record. The main site can go through the CDN while a subdomain stays out, or the other way round. Mail and administrative access stay out always.

And if I change my mind?

You undo it. Put our nameservers back at the domain registrar, which are these: dns1.mozout.co.mz dns2.mozout.co.mz dns3.mozout.co.mz dns4.mozout.co.mz. Then wait for propagation, exactly as on the way in: how long propagation takes. The step you cannot skip is copying out the records you created at the CDN before you leave, because the zone sitting here does not have them. The whole exit, and the three proofs that it really is off, are in switching the CDN off and confirming it is off.

Does the domain stop being mine? Does it stop being with you?

No and no. Changing nameservers changes only who answers for the DNS. The domain stays registered in your name, keeps renewing with us and stays on your invoice. On the difference between registering and hosting, see registry, registrar and registrant and what nameservers are. What actually changes when the domain is with us is in what changes in the nameservers when the domain is registered with us.

I have decided to go ahead. Where do I start?

With the preparation, which is where this is won or lost: putting a CDN in front of your site, step by step. Then with the actual screens: putting a domain on Cloudflare and what changes and what stays the same.