The problem
The application runs in AWS. Cloudflare already caches its JavaScript, CSS and images, but the rest of the traffic is API responses, personalised pages and a large catalogue where each object is requested rarely. That traffic misses the cache, comes out of AWS through its internet egress, and is most of the data transfer bill.
How the pieces fit
- Cloudflare receives every request. The WAF, DDoS protection and bot management filter it, and static assets are served from Cloudflare’s cache.
- Requests that miss the cache go to Efficient Cloud Egress instances in our data centres, configured as Cloudflare’s origin. They keep persistent connections to your application, cache what the content allows, collapse simultaneous requests for the same object into one, and pass dynamic pages straight through.
- Efficient Cloud Egress fetches from your origin in AWS over our direct connection to the AWS network. AWS bills that traffic at its private transfer rate, and we bill delivery in credits.
The same design works with Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud, which our data centres are also connected to.
What you get
- One security layer in front of the application, with every log kept through Cloudflare Logpush.
- Lower transfer cost for the dynamic traffic, without changing the application or its provider.
- Active/active Efficient Cloud Egress instances in more than one site, and a tested failback to serving directly from AWS.
- One team that designs and runs both layers, as a Cloudflare Authorized Service Delivery Partner.
Cost
Efficient Cloud Egress is priced from $0.031 per GB, plus Cloudflare according to your plan; see the Efficient Cloud Egress pricing. How much you save depends on your provider, region and volume, so send us a recent bill and we calculate it on your real traffic.