# Cloudflare

> Cloudflare is a global network for DNS, CDN, TLS and web security, managed with Terraform and OpenTofu through the cloudflare provider.

- Source: https://www.itwonderlab.com/cloudflare/
- Published: 2026-07-26
- Updated: 2026-07-26
- Author: Javier Ruiz Jiménez (https://www.javierruizjimenez.com/)
- Site: IT Wonder Lab (https://www.itwonderlab.com/)

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**Cloudflare** runs a global network that sits in front of your servers. It provides authoritative DNS, a proxy and CDN, TLS certificates, DDoS protection and a web application firewall, plus developer services such as Workers. It does not host virtual machines, so it is used together with a cloud like [AWS](https://www.itwonderlab.com/aws/).

### Key concepts

- **Zone**: a domain managed in Cloudflare, with its DNS records and settings.
- **Proxied record**: a DNS record whose web traffic goes through Cloudflare.
- **Ruleset**: rules grouped by phase, such as the custom firewall rules.
- **cloudflare provider**: the [provider](https://www.itwonderlab.com/terraform-provider/) for Terraform and OpenTofu. Authenticate it with an API token.

### Learn it

Follow [Terraform with Cloudflare](https://www.itwonderlab.com/terraform-cloudflare-getting-started/).