: Is it possible to use cloudflare without having them managing my DNS? I need to use cloudflare without having them managing my DNS, My DNS server have much more options that I do need. Instead

@Ogunnowo487

Not in the free plan.

If this is an issue, I can suggest you to try our service (Incapsula). We offer similar CDN capabilities and provide CNAME-only setup option for all free and paid customers.

Having said that, while the services are similar, there are some notable differences you should be aware of.


CF is Faster - We both use CDN for proxy and cache acceleration and we both provide content optimization but CF offers more POPs (23 to our 15) and it will provide 4-5% more speed boost.
(http://www.sitepoint.com/battle-of-cdn-comparing-cloudflare-incapsula/)
Incapsula is Safer - Incapsula is much more security focused with features like PCI compliant WAF and Backdoor Shell Protection. Overall, we can counter ~95%-98% of all malicious requests (SQLI, XSS and so on) and will identify ~99% of bat bots, through challenges and signatures.


(http://tonyonsecurity.com/2012/11/13/protecting-your-website-cloudflare-or-incapsula/)

If you need the extra speed, you should consider CF paid plans. After all, they do a pretty good job in the acceleration department.
If you prefer the free program or prefer tighter security, Incapsula might be a better choice.

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@Gail5422790

To clarify -- yes, we offer a CNAME pointing option that is available for paid level plans (business level and above) whereby you can point CNAME records through CloudFlare while continuing to use your own DNS. That being said, we operate a global DNS network with 23 data centers, and have routinely been shown by independent groups to be #1 or #2 in terms of fastest DNS resolution among all DNS providers so I'm not entirely sure why you wouldn't want to use our DNS network.
www.solvedns.com/dns-comparison/2012/11 http://www.solvedns.com/dns-comparison/2013/01

p.s. I do work for CloudFlare so these details above are accurate.

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@Correia994

No, CloudFlare works by firstly hosting authoritative nameservers for your sites. This is a fundamental part of its operation.

It does this so it can anycast out different IP addresses for initial DNS lookups for content; these go to CloudFlare's datacentres (as of 2010 they had 23 across the world, probably more now). They cache static content with a short expiry time; for non-cached content their servers proxy through requests to the actual server then forward them with some optimisation and compression.

If you don't allow the CloudFlare network to assume NS authority and become the intermediary between a user and your server, your CloudFlare account's about as useful as a chocolate teapot. ;-)

See www.quora.com/CloudFlare/How-does-CloudFlare-work for a very detailed response from the CloudFlare CEO to a very similar question.

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