by arp242 | 2025-11-19 00:45:35+00:00
Everything is a "single point of failure" if you play around enough with the definition of "single". Your custom server with backup solution is a "single" thing, which is really not that far off from what Cloudflare is. From a technical point of view it's hard to get more redundant than things like Cloudflare; it's really not that centralised beyond being one organisation.

It's just that if your server fails no one hears about it. But as a rule, your custom server will fair more often than Cloudflare.

And you "need" it quicker than you think. DaemonForums is a small (no longer very active) forum; I ran the site for the first few years from 2008 to 2013. I served it off a small Intel Atom server. I haven't been involved in over a decade, but last year the current admin added Cloudflare because traffic from bots was getting out of control. He helpfully posted some stats:

Period Usage Maximum Expected Overusage July 2025 5 GB ∞ 5 GB No overusage June 2025 63 GB ∞ 63 GB No overusage May 2025 788 GB ∞ 788 GB No overusage April 2025 1038 GB ∞ 1038 GB 38 GB March 2025 540 GB ∞ 540 GB No overusage February 2025 379 GB ∞ 379 GB No overusage January 2025 397 GB ∞ 397 GB No overusage December 2024 401 GB ∞ 401 GB No overusage November 2024 484 GB ∞ 484 GB No overusage October 2024 328 GB ∞ 328 GB No overusage September 2024 357 GB ∞ 357 GB No overusage August 2024 355 GB ∞ 355 GB No overusage July 2024 326 GB ∞ 326 GB No overusage June 2024 189 GB ∞ 189 GB No overusage May 2024 238 GB ∞ 238 GB No overusage April 2024 225 GB ∞ 225 GB No overusage March 2024 125 GB ∞ 125 GB No overusage February 2024 76 GB ∞ 76 GB No overusage January 2024 68 GB ∞ 68 GB No overusage December 2023 34 GB ∞ 34 GB No overusage November 2023 31 GB ∞ 31 GB No overusage October 2023 31 GB ∞ 31 GB No overusage September 2023 24 GB ∞ 24 GB No overusage August 2023 22 GB ∞ 22 GB No overusage July 2023 22 GB ∞ 22 GB No overusage June 2023 22 GB ∞ 22 GB No overusage May 2023 18 GB ∞ 18 GB No overusage April 2023 20 GB ∞ 20 GB No overusage March 2023 21 GB ∞ 21 GB No overusage February 2023 20 GB ∞ 20 GB No overusage January 2023 34 GB ∞ 34 GB No overusage December 2022 38 GB ∞ 38 GB No overusage November 2022 28 GB ∞ 28 GB No overusage October 2022 25 GB ∞ 25 GB No overusage September 2022 18 GB ∞ 18 GB No overusage August 2022 36 GB ∞ 36 GB No overusage July 2022 84 GB ∞ 84 GB No overusage June 2022 71 GB ∞ 71 GB No overusage May 2022 91 GB ∞ 91 GB No overusage April 2022 89 GB ∞ 89 GB No overusage March 2022 88 GB ∞ 88 GB No overusage February 2022 89 GB ∞ 89 GB No overusage January 2022 89 GB ∞ 89 GB No overusage December 2021 98 GB ∞ 98 GB No overusage November 2021 101 GB ∞ 101 GB No overusage October 2021 97 GB ∞ 97 GB No overusage September 2021 92 GB ∞ 92 GB No overusage August 2021 94 GB ∞ 94 GB No overusage July 2021 84 GB ∞ 84 GB No overusage June 2021 83 GB ∞ 83 GB No overusage May 2021 92 GB ∞ 92 GB No overusage April 2021 91 GB ∞ 91 GB No overusage March 2021 76 GB ∞ 76 GB No overusage February 2021 68 GB ∞ 68 GB No overusage January 2021 82 GB ∞ 82 GB No overusage December 2020 74 GB ∞ 74 GB No overusage November 2020 76 GB ∞ 76 GB No overusage October 2020 71 GB ∞ 71 GB No overusage September 2020 65 GB ∞ 65 GB No overusage August 2020 75 GB ∞ 75 GB No overusage July 2020 71 GB ∞ 71 GB No overusage June 2020 65 GB ∞ 65 GB No overusage May 2020 71 GB ∞ 71 GB No overusage April 2020 56 GB ∞ 56 GB No overusage March 2020 59 GB ∞ 59 GB No overusage February 2020 56 GB ∞ 56 GB No overusage January 2020 61 GB ∞ 61 GB No overusage December 2019 55 GB ∞ 55 GB No overusage November 2019 51 GB ∞ 51 GB No overusage October 2019 54 GB ∞ 54 GB No overusage September 2019 51 GB ∞ 51 GB No overusage August 2019 49 GB ∞ 49 GB No overusage July 2019 49 GB ∞ 49 GB No overusage June 2019 46 GB ∞ 46 GB No overusage May 2019 63 GB ∞ 63 GB No overusage April 2019 46 GB ∞ 46 GB No overusage March 2019 46 GB ∞ 46 GB No overusage February 2019 43 GB ∞ 43 GB No overusage January 2019 83 GB ∞ 83 GB No overusage December 2018 52 GB ∞ 52 GB No overusage November 2018 53 GB ∞ 53 GB No overusage October 2018 49 GB ∞ 49 GB No overusage September 2018 45 GB ∞ 45 GB No overusage August 2018 46 GB ∞ 46 GB No overusage July 2018 20 GB ∞ 20 GB No overusage July 2018 34 GB ∞ 34 GB No overusage June 2018 59 GB ∞ 59 GB No overusage May 2018 51 GB ∞ 51 GB No overusage April 2018 59 GB ∞ 59 GB No overusage March 2018 49 GB ∞ 49 GB No overusage February 2018 44 GB ∞ 44 GB No overusage January 2018 47 GB ∞ 47 GB No overusage December 2017 49 GB ∞ 49 GB No overusage November 2017 43 GB ∞ 43 GB No overusage October 2017 46 GB ∞ 46 GB No overusage September 2017 47 GB ∞ 47 GB No overusage August 2017 43 GB ∞ 43 GB No overusage July 2017 42 GB ∞ 42 GB No overusage June 2017 46 GB ∞ 46 GB No overusage May 2017 42 GB ∞ 42 GB No overusage April 2017 59 GB ∞ 59 GB No overusage March 2017 46 GB ∞ 46 GB No overusage February 2017 45 GB ∞ 45 GB No overusage January 2017 46 GB ∞ 46 GB No overusage December 2016 43 GB ∞ 43 GB No overusage November 2016 38 GB ∞ 38 GB No overusage October 2016 41 GB ∞ 41 GB No overusage September 2016 32 GB ∞ 32 GB No overusage August 2016 34 GB ∞ 34 GB No overusage July 2016 33 GB ∞ 33 GB No overusage June 2016 41 GB ∞ 41 GB No overusage May 2016 46 GB ∞ 46 GB No overusage April 2016 51 GB ∞ 51 GB No overusage March 2016 53 GB ∞ 53 GB No overusage February 2016 39 GB ∞ 39 GB No overusage January 2016 42 GB ∞ 42 GB No overusage December 2015 36 GB ∞ 36 GB No overusage November 2015 35 GB ∞ 35 GB No overusage October 2015 32 GB ∞ 32 GB No overusage September 2015 38 GB ∞ 38 GB No overusage August 2015 36 GB ∞ 36 GB No overusage July 2015 35 GB ∞ 35 GB No overusage June 2015 34 GB ∞ 34 GB No overusage May 2015 35 GB ∞ 35 GB No overusage April 2015 55 GB ∞ 55 GB No overusage March 2015 44 GB ∞ 44 GB No overusage February 2015 28 GB ∞ 28 GB No overusage January 2015 36 GB ∞ 36 GB No overusage December 2014 38 GB ∞ 38 GB No overusage November 2014 41 GB ∞ 41 GB No overusage October 2014 64 GB ∞ 64 GB No overusage September 2014 44 GB ∞ 44 GB No overusage August 2014 43 GB ∞ 43 GB No overusage July 2014 42 GB ∞ 42 GB No overusage June 2014 27 GB ∞ 27 GB No overusage May 2014 31 GB ∞ 31 GB No overusage April 2014 40 GB ∞ 40 GB No overusage March 2014 38 GB ∞ 38 GB No overusage February 2014 37 GB ∞ 37 GB No overusage January 2014 24 GB ∞ 24 GB No overusage

From: https://daemonforums.org/showthread.php?t=12809#post76328

The traffic increased by an order of a magnitude, to the point where it was causing problems.

Does it "need" Cloudflare? Probably not – you can just expand your hardware, or maybe fiddle with some other stuff. But Cloudflare is simple, cheap, and easy.

I have no great love for Cloudflare, but posts like this are not in sync with the state of the modern internet.