Glossary

A Cloudflare service that puts a login check in front of your internal apps, so only approved people can reach them, no VPN needed. Like a guest list at the door of a private app.

A control point that sits between your app and AI models to add caching, rate limits, logging, and cost tracking. Like a smart receptionist that manages and records every request to your AI.

A networking trick where one address is shared by many servers worldwide, and your request is automatically routed to the nearest one. It's how Cloudflare sends you to a close server without you noticing.

A defined way for two programs to talk to each other and exchange data, like a waiter taking your order to the kitchen and bringing food back. API stands for Application Programming Interface.

How much data can flow through a connection in a given time, like the width of a pipe. More bandwidth means more data can move at once.

Connections you declare so a Worker can use other resources like a database, storage bucket, or AI model, just by referring to a name in your code. They wire your code to the services it needs.

An automated program that visits websites instead of a human, sometimes helpful (like search engines) and sometimes harmful (like scrapers or attackers). Cloudflare helps tell the good ones from the bad.

A temporary copy of data kept close to users so it can be served instantly without fetching it again from far away. Like keeping snacks in your desk drawer instead of walking to the store each time.

Those 'prove you're human' challenges, like picking out traffic lights, used to tell people apart from bots. They can be annoying, which is why tools like Turnstile aim to replace them.

A worldwide network of servers that keeps copies of a website's files near users, so pages load faster. CDN stands for Content Delivery Network.

A digital ID card that proves a website really is who it claims to be and enables the encrypted padlock connection. A trusted authority issues it, like a government issuing a passport.

A service for hosting websites and front-end apps that builds and deploys them straight from your code repository. Connect your Git project and Cloudflare puts the site online globally.

A DNS record that points one domain name to another, like a forwarding address. For example, www.example.com can be a CNAME that points to example.com.

The short delay when code has to wake up and get ready before handling its first request. Cloudflare Workers are designed to have essentially zero cold start, so there is almost no wait.

Cloudflare's serverless SQL database, built on SQLite, for storing structured data in tables with rows and columns. Good when you need real queries, like a tidy spreadsheet you can ask questions about.

An attack that floods a website with huge amounts of fake traffic to overwhelm it and knock it offline. Like a crowd jamming a shop's doorway so real customers can't get in.

The internet's phone book that turns a human-friendly name like example.com into the numeric address computers use to connect. DNS stands for Domain Name System.

The service your device asks to look up a website's address in the DNS phone book. Cloudflare's free resolver, 1.1.1.1, is known for being fast and private.

A special Worker that remembers its own data and guarantees only one copy exists for a given name, so it's perfect for coordinating things like chat rooms or live counters. Think of it as one trusted clerk who always handles the same desk.

Servers placed physically close to users all over the world, so data travels a short distance and responses feel fast. Like having a convenience store on every street corner instead of one big warehouse far away.

A charge some cloud providers add when you download or move your data out of their storage. Cloudflare R2 famously has zero egress fees, so taking your files out is free.

A list of numbers that captures the meaning of a piece of text, image, or audio, so a computer can compare how similar two things are. Words with similar meaning end up with similar numbers.

Cloudflare's secure web gateway that filters an organization's internet traffic to block malware and unwanted sites. Think of it as a safety checkpoint for everything your team browses.

A specialized chip that does many calculations at once, which makes it ideal for running AI models. Cloudflare runs your AI on GPUs at the edge so you don't have to buy your own.

The basic set of rules browsers and servers use to request and send web pages. HTTP stands for HyperText Transfer Protocol; it's the language of the web.

HTTP with encryption added by TLS, so the data between you and a website is private and tamper-proof. The 's' stands for secure, and it's shown by the padlock in your browser.

The act of actually using a trained AI model to get an answer, such as generating text or classifying an image. Training is teaching the model; inference is asking it to do the work.

A numeric address that identifies a device or server on the internet, like a postal address for data. DNS exists to turn names into these numbers.

A simple way to store data as pairs: a unique 'key' (the label) and its 'value' (the content), like a word and its definition in a dictionary. Fast to look up when you know the key.

The time it takes for data to travel from one point to another and back, usually measured in milliseconds. Lower latency feels snappier; it's why being close to users matters.

A way of storing files as standalone 'objects' (the file plus its info) that scales to huge amounts of data. Ideal for photos, videos, and backups; R2 is Cloudflare's object storage.

The original server where a website's real content lives, before Cloudflare caches and serves copies of it. Cloudflare shields the origin and only bothers it when needed.

A waiting line for tasks: your app drops jobs in, and they get processed one by one in the background so nothing is lost during busy spikes. Like a deli ticket line that keeps orders in order.

Cloudflare's storage for large files like images, videos, and backups, with no fee for downloading your data out. Like a giant online hard drive that doesn't charge you to take files back out.

A technique where an AI first looks up relevant facts from your own documents, then uses them to answer, giving more accurate and up-to-date replies. RAG stands for Retrieval-Augmented Generation.

A rule that caps how many requests someone can make in a period of time, protecting a site from abuse and overload. Like a 'one free sample per customer' policy.

Traditional clouds make you pick a 'region' (a data center location) for your app. Cloudflare's 'Region: Earth' idea means your code just runs everywhere automatically, so you don't have to choose.

A server that sits in front of your website, receiving visitors first and then passing requests to your origin. This lets Cloudflare add caching, security, and speed before traffic ever reaches you.

A way to run code without renting or managing your own servers; the platform automatically runs it and you only pay when it actually runs. You still use servers, you just don't have to think about them.

The technology that encrypts the connection between a browser and a website so others can't read or tamper with the data. SSL is the older name; TLS is the modern version, and both put the padlock in your browser.

How long a cached copy or DNS record is allowed to be kept before it must be refreshed. TTL stands for Time To Live; a short TTL means data updates more often.

A secure, encrypted connection that lets Cloudflare reach a server or app without opening it directly to the public internet. The small program that creates it is called cloudflared.

Cloudflare's friendly alternative to puzzle CAPTCHAs that quietly checks whether a visitor is a real person, usually without making them click anything. Less annoying, still keeps bots out.

A database that stores 'embeddings' (lists of numbers representing meaning) and quickly finds items with similar meaning. It powers search by idea rather than by exact words.

A filter that inspects incoming web traffic and blocks malicious requests like hacking attempts before they reach your site. WAF stands for Web Application Firewall; think of it as a bouncer at the door.

A small piece of code that runs on Cloudflare's edge servers close to users, handling each web request in milliseconds. Think of it as a tiny helper that greets every visitor at the nearest door.

A simple storage service that saves data as key-value pairs (a name and its value) and copies it across the globe for fast reads everywhere. Great for settings, small data, and things read far more often than they're changed.

Cloudflare's command-line tool for building, testing, and deploying Workers from your computer. It's the main remote control developers use to ship code to the edge.

The configuration file for a Worker project, where you set its name, entry point, and bindings. It's like the project's settings sheet that Wrangler reads when deploying.

A security approach that never assumes anyone is safe just because they're inside the network; every user and request must prove itself every time. The motto is 'never trust, always verify.'