Our customers are constantly increasing their expectations regarding page loading speed and protection against attacks (DDoS). To meet their expectations we are directly connected to the Cloudflare network and this means specific benefits for our customers.
We invite you to discover the benefits of a direct connection between Smarthost and Cloudflare.
Smarthost’s own data center – convenience for customers
Some hosting companies do not have their own data center, but only rent servers in commercial data centers, which means they have limited influence on what connections to global Internet operators they can have. The choice is usually limited to what a given data center offers and what Internet access policy it has. Smarthost has fiber optic connections from the best quality providers such as Exatel and Orange. In addition, we exchange traffic with hundreds of other providers at EPIX in Katowice, EPIX Warsaw and TPIX. Thanks to direct fiber optic connections to these exchange points, we have access to many international providers, including in Frankfurt, Amsterdam, London, Prague, Budapest and Kiev.
Recently, we have also established a direct connection between our Smarthost network and the Cloudflare network. We are among the relatively few Polish hosting companies with this solution. Thanks to having our own data center, we decide ourselves what technological innovations we implement and what connections we want to introduce to meet the expectations of users.
How Does the World Wide Web Work? Who Is Connected to Whom?
The global Internet network can be compared to a huge number of roads along which data packets move. They go from one device to another. On their way, they encounter routers, which are responsible for directing data packets through the network (similarly to intersections on a road). However, while in real life we can decide which shortest route to take to get to our destination, in the Internet it is not so obvious. Internet traffic does not always take the shortest and most optimal route, although it would seem to be the best solution. Sometimes, instead of connecting locally, the connection runs internationally (or even intercontinentally!), which negatively affects the speed and quality of the connection. It is as if driving from Krakow to Częstochowa via Berlin.
Even if the recipient is geographically close, reaching them via the Internet can sometimes take longer than we might expect. How can this be remedied? Routes can be shortened by direct connections between some networks. A direct connection eliminates delays resulting from going through many routers in the global network, which usually translates into much lower latency and better performance. It is as if you were driving a car and always chose the most optimal route because you know that there is one straight road between two towns and you do not have to drive “around” through other cities.
Thanks to the direct connection to the Cloudflare network, our network infrastructure bypasses intermediaries, which translates into a significant improvement in performance. We do not have to follow the routes imposed on the Internet, which may not be the best for our users. Data sent between Smarthost.pl and Cloudflare therefore travels a shorter route, thanks to which latency will usually be minimized, and websites will load much faster.
Such direct contact also eliminates potential failure points and increases the stability of the connection. Thanks to it, we have the ability to control network traffic, usually obtaining a shorter response time, because packets pass through fewer routers. Moreover, even in the event of problems with the services of intermediate providers, communication between Smarthost.pl and Cloudflare remains undisturbed.
What is Cloudflare?
Cloudflare is a global platform of network services, the main goal of which is to improve security, increase loading speeds, and maintain the stability of the connection between a website and its users. Some services are offered for free, and some add-ons, such as an extension for WordPress, are available in affordable packages. What does Cloudflare actually do and why is it worth taking a look at?
Speeds up page loading – Cloudflare has geographically distributed servers on which it stores static elements of websites (such as multimedia files, CSS files, or JavaScript). When a user visits a website connected to Cloudflare, they receive files from the nearest server, which significantly shortens the page loading time. This is especially important for recipients who connect from distant locations in relation to the location of the server on which the website is located.
Thanks to the direct connection between Smarthost data center and Cloudflare, we have achieved a more stable connection, which usually gets faster loading times. All for the benefit of our customers.
The second major advantage of Cloudflare is security . It protects the user’s site from various types of attacks, such as DDoS or bots. Of course, we still recommend taking care of your websites, including by performing ongoing updates and maintaining a responsible password policy, but Cloudflare undoubtedly helps to better protect resources.
When describing what Cloudflare is, it is also worth mentioning the Cloudflare Radar tool, which monitors and analyzes global internet traffic, providing valuable information about the health of the global network. Customers will also find information about Smarthost there.
We constantly take care of the high technical quality of our services, and we also focus on broadly understood development. Direct connection between Smarthost and Cloudflare is another of its elements. Thanks to continuous investments and agreements with new partners, our offer is constantly enriched. The whole is complemented by professional customer support. It does not matter how big your website is, whether you are a private person or a large company – you will always receive services at a high and stable level. Because every customer counts for us. We invite you to familiarize yourself with the offer and use the services of Smarthost – customer-friendly hosting!
The article is prepared jointly by a group of people from the Smarthost Administrators.
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