How to Check If Your Cloudflare CDN Is Working
Cloudflare is a popular content delivery network (CDN) that helps to speed up websites by caching content and serving it from servers located closer to the user. However, just signing up for Cloudflare and adding your website to their platform doesn’t guarantee that it’s working as intended. In this article, we’ll discuss some methods you can use to check if your Cloudflare CDN is working properly.
1. Browser Developer Tools
First and foremost, the easiest way to check if Cloudflare is working on your website is by using your browser’s Developer Tools. Simply right-click on your webpage, select “Inspect,” and go to the “Network” tab. Look for any requests that have the CDN domain (e.g., cdn.yourwebsite.com) in the URL. If you see requests being served from the CDN, then Cloudflare is working properly.
2. Cloudflare Dashboard
Another way to confirm if your Cloudflare CDN is active is by logging into your Cloudflare account and going to the “Analytics” tab. Here, you can see details about the traffic and requests being served through Cloudflare. If you see an increase in cached requests and a decrease in origin server hits, then Cloudflare is doing its job.
3. CDN Headers
You can also check if Cloudflare is working by examining the HTTP headers of your website’s responses. Look for headers like “Server” and “CF-Cache-Status.” If the “Server” header mentions Cloudflare and the “CF-Cache-Status” is set to “HIT,” then your content is being served from the CDN.
4. Ping and Traceroute
If you want to go a step further, you can use tools like ping and traceroute to see if your website is being routed through Cloudflare’s servers. Run a ping or traceroute command on your domain and check if the IP addresses belong to Cloudflare. This will confirm that your traffic is being routed through the CDN.
5. Website Performance
Lastly, one of the most obvious ways to check if Cloudflare is working is by monitoring your website’s performance. If your website loads faster, has lower latency, and shows improved uptime, then Cloudflare is likely doing its job. You can use tools like Google PageSpeed Insights or GTmetrix to analyze your website’s speed and performance.
In conclusion, there are several methods you can use to check if your Cloudflare CDN is working correctly. By using browser tools, checking the Cloudflare dashboard, examining CDN headers, running ping and traceroute tests, and monitoring website performance, you can ensure that Cloudflare is optimizing your website’s delivery. Remember to regularly check these metrics to ensure that your CDN is performing as expected.