How long does it take to cache a website to my nearest server and update its records?

[nitish_patil]

Hello,

I added my website aerience.com to Cloudflare (Free Plan)

It seems that the site has been cached as when I ping it, a Cloudflare IP address shows up.
However, the ping is 150ms, which is the same as my host.

I want it to be hosted on my nearest Cloudflare data center which is at 30ms.

Can I know how long it will take for this to happen, or, if it can be done manually?

[sdayman]

Short answer: It’s beyond your control, though Paid Plans get higher priority at datacenters.

It’s up to your ISP how to route your requests to your website. Cloudflare caches resources at whicheve datacenter a visitor’s ISP routes them to.

Peering - Why don't I reach the closest datacenter to me?

Why don’t I reach the closest datacenter to me? Cloudflare is an anycast network, so where you are routed is determined by peering with ISPs. The shortest path geographically isn’t always possible due to peering agreements. If you request a site hosted on Cloudflare from home: The domain resolves to a Cloudflare IP Your browser sends an HTTP request to that IP Your ISP’s routers consult their routing table and route the packets upstream to their transit provider ( COSTS MONEY ) The packets …

p.s. Ping isn’t the best metric for determining site speed. Your browser’s Dev Tools is the best way to test real-world performance.

[nitish_patil]

Oh, I see.

Thank you for this information!

But I am guessing that even the paid plans don’t have the ability to decide on which data center to cache the website?

So, if a bunch of different users visit my website, it will most likely get caches to their nearest data center?

[sdayman]

Correct, caching is automatic. It takes a visit for that person’s local datacenter to cache resources. The next local visit will get cached resources until the cache expires or is purged/evicted. Each datacenter is an independent cache.

[nitish_patil]

Ah. Okay.

Thank you, everything is clear now.

Oh and, two more questions.

1. How often is the cache of my site updated or is there a specific trigger to it? Like for example content sites, their content is changing constantly, so how often is their cache updated compared to my low traffic website?

2. I use Cloudflare-DNS. If I use 1.1.1.1 — the Internet’s Fastest, Privacy-First DNS Resolver which record should I purge so that the DNS record gets updated. I am tired of clearing all the records.

[sdayman]

1. Cloudflare doesn’t cache HTML by default, so any content changes show immediately. But if you modify CSS or JS, I suggest you use the Cache section of the Cloudflare Dashboard to Purge Everything.
2. DNS doesn’t change, so there’s no need to purge anything at cloudflare-dns.

[nitish_patil]

I didn’t get the DNS doesn’t change part.

My domain links to 123.123.123.123

If I purge CloudFlare DNS cache for my domain, it will get updated and now use the CloudFlare IP address where my website is hosted?

Or am I wrong here?

[sdayman]

Your site DNS is already going through Cloudflare. Leave DNS alone. It’s fine the way it is.