Skip to content
HDC Consultancy.

Cloud & DevOps

Cloudflare

The hosting and security layer under every site we build.

Cloudflare is a global network that hosts, speeds up and protects websites. It provides edge hosting through Pages, a worldwide CDN, free SSL and DNS, bot and spam protection with Turnstile, and serverless compute via Workers. HDC uses Cloudflare as the hosting and security layer across our stack, including this very website, so client sites load fast everywhere and stay protected.

Ask us about Cloudflare Official site

Where it shines

  • Global CDN serves pages from a location close to every visitor, fast everywhere
  • Cloudflare Pages gives fast, cheap edge hosting with auto-build on every push
  • Free, automatic SSL and reliable DNS as standard, no certificate hassle
  • Turnstile blocks spam and bots on forms without annoying real users
  • Workers run serverless code at the edge for redirects, APIs and form handling
  • DDoS protection and a security layer included even on the free tier

Trade-offs to weigh

  • Deep configuration (Workers, advanced caching, WAF rules) has a learning curve
  • Concentrating hosting, DNS and CDN with one provider is convenient but is a single dependency
  • Some advanced features and higher limits sit behind paid plans

What Cloudflare is

Cloudflare is a global network and cloud platform that sits between a website and its visitors to make it faster, safer and more reliable. Founded in 2009, it runs data centres in hundreds of cities worldwide. Originally known for its content delivery network (CDN) and DDoS protection, it has grown into a broad platform that can host entire sites and run application code at the edge.

For the work we do, the pieces that matter most are: Pages (fast, git-connected hosting for static and edge-rendered sites), the CDN (caching pages close to every visitor), SSL and DNS (secure connections and reliable domain routing, free and automatic), Turnstile (privacy-friendly spam and bot protection for forms), and Workers (serverless functions that run at the edge). Together they cover hosting, speed and security in one place.

How HDC uses Cloudflare

Cloudflare is the layer underneath almost everything we ship, including this very site. In practice:

  • We deploy client Astro sites to Cloudflare Pages, which builds and publishes automatically every time we push to GitHub, with preview deploys on pull requests.
  • We rely on the CDN so every page is cached at the edge and served from a data centre near the visitor, fast in every town a client serves.
  • We use Cloudflare’s free SSL and DNS so connections are secure and domains route reliably, with no certificate admin.
  • We add Turnstile to lead forms to block spam and bots without making real customers solve puzzles.
  • We use Workers when a project needs lightweight server logic at the edge, redirects, simple APIs or form handling, without standing up a full back end.

Why we apply it

Two of the things that win clients more work, speed and reliability, depend heavily on where and how a site is served. Cloudflare’s edge network makes pages load fast wherever the visitor is, which feeds directly into Core Web Vitals and Google rankings, and keeps sites available and secure around the clock.

It also matters commercially: Pages hosting, the CDN, SSL and Turnstile are inexpensive, often free at the volumes a typical trades or local-business site sees, so clients get enterprise-grade infrastructure without an enterprise bill. And Turnstile protecting forms means the enquiries that land are real ones, not bot spam.

How Cloudflare fits our stack

Cloudflare is the hosting and security floor the rest of the stack stands on. Astro sites build from GitHub and deploy to Cloudflare Pages; the CDN caches them globally; Turnstile guards the forms; Workers handle any edge logic. When a project needs heavier back-end infrastructure or large-scale storage, we pair Cloudflare with AWS behind it, and Cloudflare can equally sit in front of a WordPress site to cache and protect it. It’s the consistent delivery and security layer across everything we build, whatever sits behind it.

When Cloudflare isn’t the right tool

Cloudflare is excellent at delivering, caching and protecting sites, but it isn’t a full general-purpose cloud on its own. For heavy, stateful back-end systems, large databases, complex processing pipelines, big file or media storage, we use a broader platform like AWS for that part and let Cloudflare handle delivery and security in front of it. And concentrating hosting, DNS and CDN with one provider, while convenient, is a single dependency we weigh up per project. For the fast, secure marketing and content sites most of our clients need, though, Cloudflare is the right default.

Worked example

A trades site that's fast in every town it serves

Picture a roofing firm covering several towns, whose customers search from phones on patchy signals. We deploy their Astro site to Cloudflare Pages, so every page is cached at the edge and served from a data centre near the visitor, fast whether they're in one town or the next. Cloudflare's free SSL keeps the connection secure, Turnstile quietly blocks the spam bots that used to flood the contact form, and a push to GitHub rebuilds and redeploys the site in minutes. Faster, cleaner enquiries, less wasted effort. (Illustrative, every build is scoped to your goals.)

Better together

How Cloudflare fits with the rest of our stack

Astro

The static sites we deploy to Cloudflare Pages

Learn more

AWS

Heavier back-end infrastructure when a project needs it

Learn more

GitHub

Pages auto-builds and deploys from our GitHub repos

Learn more

WordPress

Cloudflare caches and protects WordPress sites

Learn more

Docker

Containerised services that sit behind Cloudflare

Learn more

Cloudflare: your questions answered

What does Cloudflare actually do?

Several things at once: it hosts sites on its global network (Pages), speeds them up by caching pages close to every visitor (CDN), secures the connection with free SSL, manages DNS, blocks bots and spam (Turnstile), and runs code at the edge (Workers). For us it's the hosting and security layer underneath the whole stack.

Is Cloudflare hosting good for SEO?

Yes. Serving pages from the edge close to each visitor makes them load faster, and speed is a direct Core Web Vitals ranking factor. Reliable hosting and uptime also mean search engines and customers always find your site available, which protects rankings over time.

What is Cloudflare Turnstile?

Turnstile is Cloudflare's anti-spam and bot-protection tool, a privacy-friendly alternative to the old "click all the traffic lights" CAPTCHA. We add it to lead forms so genuine customers sail through while automated spam submissions get blocked, keeping your enquiry inbox clean.

Why does HDC use Cloudflare?

Because it gives clients fast, secure, reliable hosting at low cost, and it ties neatly into how we build. We deploy Astro sites to Cloudflare Pages, protect forms with Turnstile, and let a GitHub push redeploy automatically. This very website runs on Cloudflare.

Is Cloudflare expensive?

For most of the sites we build it's very cost-effective, Pages hosting, the CDN, SSL and Turnstile are available on generous free and low-cost tiers. Heavier traffic or advanced features move you onto paid plans, but typical trades and local-business sites stay inexpensive to run.

Can Cloudflare protect a site I already have?

Usually, yes. Cloudflare can sit in front of an existing site, including WordPress, to add a CDN, caching, SSL and security without rebuilding it. It's one of the simplest ways to make an existing site faster and better protected.

Want Cloudflare working for your business?

Tell us what you're trying to achieve, we'll show you, honestly, whether it's the right tool and how we'd apply it.

Enquire now