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How to Get DDoS Protection with Cloudflare

Cloudflare can shield your website from floods of fake traffic. This guide explains the idea and shows the main setup steps.

Domains and DNS2 min read12 steps3 screenshots

What is a DDoS attack?

A DDoS attack sends a huge number of fake visits to a website at once. Picture thousands of people crowding a shop door so real customers cannot get in. The site becomes slow or goes offline.

What is Cloudflare?

Cloudflare is a third-party company. It sits between your visitors and your hosting server. Visitors talk to Cloudflare first. Cloudflare blocks bad traffic and passes good traffic to your site. It is like a guard at the door. Cloudflare offers free and paid plans. Its features and prices are set by Cloudflare. Hostvento support can tell you whether it works with your plan.

Steps

  1. Create an account at the Cloudflare website.
  2. Click Add a site and type your domain name.
    Check CloudFlare
  3. Choose a plan. The free one is enough to start.
  4. Cloudflare scans your current DNS records. Check that the list is correct. Add anything that is missing.
  5. Look at the orange cloud icon next to each record. An orange cloud means traffic goes through Cloudflare. A grey cloud means it goes straight to your server.
  6. Cloudflare gives you two nameservers. They look like name.ns.cloudflare.com.
  7. Log in to your client area and open Domains. Change the nameservers of your domain to the two from Cloudflare. If the domain is at another registrar, change them there.
  8. Wait up to 24 hours. Cloudflare will email you when the site is active.

Turn on extra protection

  1. In Cloudflare, open Security.
  2. Check the security level. Medium is a good start.
  3. If you are under attack right now, choose I'm Under Attack Mode. Visitors see a short check page before they enter.
    DDoS Protection 2
    DDoS Protection 3
  4. Open SSL/TLS and pick a mode that matches your site. Ask support if you are unsure which one to pick.

Careful: wrong nameservers can take your site offline. Write down the old ones first.

Tip: Hide your server's real IP. Keep the orange cloud on and do not share the IP in public places.

Quick recap

  • A DDoS attack floods a site with fake visits.
  • Cloudflare filters traffic before it reaches you.
  • Add your site, check DNS, then switch nameservers.
  • Keep the orange cloud on for protected records.