For a very small instance with only a couple of concurrent users a CDN might not make much difference. But if you take a look at your web server logs you’ll quickly notice that every post / like / vote triggers a storm of requests from other instances to yours, looking up lots of different […]

cross-posted from: https://discuss.online/post/5391072

February 20, 2024 piefedadmin writes:

For a very small instance with only a couple of concurrent users a CDN might not make much difference. But if you take a look at your web server logs you’ll quickly notice that every post / like / vote triggers a storm of requests from other instances to yours, looking up lots of different things. It’s easy to imagine how quickly this would overwhelm an instance once it gets even a little busy.

One of the first web performance tools people reach for is to use a CDN, like Cloudflare. But how much difference will it make? In this video I show you my web server logs before and after and compare them.

Read How much difference does a CDN make to a fediverse instance?

  • didnt_readit@lemmy.worldEnglish
    1·
    10 months ago

    That’s true but there are a bunch of CDNs you can choose from and you can switch from one to another fairly easily. Cloudflare just happens to be the most popular at the moment but they’re not the only big player, not to mention smaller players.

    FWIW I totally agree with the sentiment that Cloudflare (and AWS for that matter) is creating a too-centralized web. I just don’t see an issue with using CDNs for fediverse servers in general.