Now we live in a world of technology. Technology has made impossible things possible. Modern technology allows us to know what is happening in countries thousands of kilometers away. But to do so, we have to access long-distance servers. This will take time to send the request and access the data. But in reality, we access the data in an instant. There is no lagging. How is it possible?
This is possible because of only CDN (Content Delivery Network). It creates a content delivery server from the origin server of the webpage. And it makes a cached version of the original data. Then it creates a cached server based on the geographic locations of the user. So, when a user accesses a web page, the CDN redirects it to the closest server to the user. It reduces the load time. And there are two popular CDN services, CloudFront & CloudFlare. Now the question is which one to use?
This article will compare CloudFront vs CloudFlare to assist you in deciding which CDN service is the best fit for you. We will cover both services’ features, benefits, and use cases and provide you with the information needed to make an informed decision. Whether you are a business owner or developer or want to improve the performance of your website, this article will give you the guidance you need to choose the right CDN service for your needs.
How did we start using CDN?
This idea was first introduced by European Scientists Daniel Karrenberg. This was invented to reduce European internet traffic and Karrenberg published a paper. There they proposed using a proxy server according to the user location to deliver the contents faster. And this idea got popular in the late 1990s.
It was first commercially introduced by Akamai Technologies. Then users and other companies started to recognize it. Soon, the world was developing large web pages with many users. CDN has become an integral part of the internet infrastructure to maintain low latency and high transfer rates. It is still providing services as one of the best inventions.
How CloudFront vs CloudFlare Started?
Amazon started using CDN service in 2008 of the burning popularity of CDN in big web pages and servers. We all know that Amazon’s service is huge worldwide. It started its service journey by naming it CloudFront. This CloudFront is designed to deliver Amazon services such as hosting web apps and delivering content without any latency.
CloudFlare is a web performance and security company that started its journey in 2009. It is not attached to any service companies. But the best thing is, it can offer advanced security services like firewall, DDoS protection, domain name system (DNS) services, etc. That is how it gained popularity.
Why choose CloudFlare over CloudFront
The common thing about CloudFront and Cloudflare is they were designed to improve the performance and security of websites. Their main target is to establish a global network of servers to deliver content to users with low latency and high transfer speeds. But CloudFlare will be ahead in terms of security.
CloudFlare offers a wide range of security features to protect against cyber threats. CloudFlare firewall is more flexible and has an HTTP filtering framework. This firewall has fine control over the requests from servers to apps. It proactively inspects incoming sites and automatically responds to threats if any threats are detected. Also,
- CloudFlare SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) encryption & TLS (Transport Layer Security) encryption protects the data sent or request over the internet. CloudFront doesn’t provide such security features.
- CloudFlare DNS offers the fastest service than Google. It’s 1.1. 1.1 service help to maintain privacy and combat snooping on the last mile. It also has a domain registration system. Here CloudFront is just a CDN service.
- It has DDoS (Distributed denial of service) support. It saves you from delivering botnets and threats. This is a great service that CloudFront does not offer.
Why choose CloudFront over CloudFlare
We already know CloudFront is a Amazon Web Services (AWS) product and is optimized to deliver static and dynamic content. This content can be HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and images. That is why CloudFront is closely integrated with other AWS services such as Amazon S3, Amazon EC2, and Amazon Route 53. So, it is suitable to deliver static and dynamic content.
Also,
- As it is integrated with AWS, it can use AWS-integrated tools. This will help to integrate the product with the existing infrastructure more easily. It is not possible with CloudFlare.
- CloudFront allows the developers to customize the behavior of CDN. Developers can write custom logic in the form of AWS [email protected] functions. This also allows you to deliver the content delivery. CloudFlare doesn’t provide you with such benefits.
- CloudFront restricts access to your origin server to only the IP addresses of CloudFront servers. This access restriction prevents unwanted access and thus maintains security.
One of the interesting facts is that its pay-as-you-go pricing model is based on usage. This means you will only pay for what you consume. You don’t have to stay on a fixed plan. But CloudFlare comes with a paid plan.
Conclusion
In summary, both CloudFront and Cloudflare offer valuable CDN services that can help improve the speed and security of your website. CloudFront is well-suited for delivering static and dynamic content and integrates seamlessly with other AWS products. On the other hand, Cloudflare provides a range of security features, including a customizable firewall and encryption, fast DNS service, and DDoS protection. Ultimately, the best CDN service for you will depend on your specific needs and priorities. Consider the features, benefits, and use cases of both CloudFront and Cloudflare, and choose the one that most closely meets your requirements and budget.
