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diff --git a/content/blog/2022-06-01-ditching-cloudflare.md b/content/blog/2022-06-01-ditching-cloudflare.md index 82096b0..8d5d049 100644 --- a/content/blog/2022-06-01-ditching-cloudflare.md +++ b/content/blog/2022-06-01-ditching-cloudflare.md @@ -7,89 +7,83 @@ draft = false # Registrar -After spending a year or so using Cloudflare for DNS only - no proxying -or applications - I spent the last few months using Cloudflare Tunnels -and Cloudflare Access to protect my self-hosted websites and -applications via their proxy traffic model. +After spending a year or so using Cloudflare for DNS only - no proxying or +applications - I spent the last few months using Cloudflare Tunnels and +Cloudflare Access to protect my self-hosted websites and applications via their +proxy traffic model. -However, I have never liked using Cloudflare due to their increasingly -large share of control over web traffic, as well as their business model -of being a MITM for all of your traffic. +However, I have never liked using Cloudflare due to their increasingly large +share of control over web traffic, as well as their business model of being a +MITM for all of your traffic. So, as of today, I have switched over to [Njalla](https://njal.la) as my registrar and DNS manager. I was able to easily transfer my domains over -rapidly, with only one domain taking more than 15-30 minutes to -propagate. +rapidly, with only one domain taking more than 15-30 minutes to propagate. -+I do still have two domains sitting at Cloudflare for the moment while -I decide if they\'re worth the higher rates (one domain is 30€ and the -other is 45€).+ ++I do still have two domains sitting at Cloudflare for the moment while I decide +if they're worth the higher rates (one domain is 30€ and the other is 45€).+ -> **Update (2022.06.03)**: I ended up transferring my final two domains -> over to Njalla, clearing my Cloudflare account of personal data, and -> deleting the Cloudflare account entirely. *I actually feel relieved to -> have moved on to a provider I trust.* +> **Update (2022.06.03)**: I ended up transferring my final two domains over to +> Njalla, clearing my Cloudflare account of personal data, and deleting the +> Cloudflare account entirely. *I actually feel relieved to have moved on to a +> provider I trust.* # DNS -As noted above, I\'m using Njalla exclusively for DNS configurations on -my domains. +As noted above, I'm using Njalla exclusively for DNS configurations on my +domains. -However, the transfer process was not ideal. As soon as the domains -transferred over, I switched the nameservers from Cloudflare to Njalla -and lost most of the associated DNS records. So, the majority of the -time spent during the migration was simply re-typing all the DNS records -back in one-by-one. +However, the transfer process was not ideal. As soon as the domains transferred +over, I switched the nameservers from Cloudflare to Njalla and lost most of the +associated DNS records. So, the majority of the time spent during the migration +was simply re-typing all the DNS records back in one-by-one. -This would be much simpler if I were able to edit the plain-text format -of the DNS configuration. I was able to do that at a past registrar -(perhaps it was [Gandi.net](https://gandi.net/)?) and it made life a lot -easier. +This would be much simpler if I were able to edit the plain-text format of the +DNS configuration. I was able to do that at a past registrar (perhaps it was +[Gandi.net](https://gandi.net/)?) and it made life a lot easier. ## Dynamic DNS Updates -I have built an easy Python script to run (or set-up in -`cron` to run automatically) that will check my server\'s -IPv4 and IPv6, compare it to Njalla, and update the DNS records if they -don\'t match. You can see the full script and process in my other post: -[Updating Dynamic DNS with Njalla API](../njalla-dns-api/). +I have built an easy Python script to run (or set-up in `cron` to run +automatically) that will check my server's IPv4 and IPv6, compare it to Njalla, +and update the DNS records if they don't match. You can see the full script and +process in my other post: [Updating Dynamic DNS with Njalla +API](../njalla-dns-api/). -I haven\'t used this other method, but I do know that you can create -`Dynamic` DNS records with Njalla that [work for updating -dynamic subdomains](https://njal.la/docs/ddns/). +I haven't used this other method, but I do know that you can create `Dynamic` +DNS records with Njalla that [work for updating dynamic +subdomains](https://njal.la/docs/ddns/). -## Njalla\'s DNS Tool +## Njalla's DNS Tool One neat upside to Njalla is that they have a [DNS lookup -tool](https://check.njal.la/dns/) that provides a lot of great -information for those of you (AKA: me) who hate using the -`dig` command. +tool](https://check.njal.la/dns/) that provides a lot of great information for +those of you (AKA: me) who hate using the `dig` command. -This was very useful for monitoring a couple of my transferred domains -to see when the changes in nameservers, records, and DNSSEC went into -effect. +This was very useful for monitoring a couple of my transferred domains to see +when the changes in nameservers, records, and DNSSEC went into effect. # Tunnel Cloudflare Tunnel is a service that acts as a reverse-proxy (hosted on -Cloudflare\'s servers) and allowed me to mask the private IP address of -the server hosting my various websites and apps. +Cloudflare's servers) and allowed me to mask the private IP address of the +server hosting my various websites and apps. -However, as I was moving away from Cloudflare, I was not able to find a -suitable replacement that was both inexpensive and simple. So, I simply -went back to hosting [my own reverse proxy with -Nginx](file:///blog/set-up-nginx-reverse-proxy/). With the recent -additions of Unifi hardware in my server/network rack, I am much more -protected against spam and malicious attacks at the network edge than I -was before I switched to Cloudflare. +However, as I was moving away from Cloudflare, I was not able to find a suitable +replacement that was both inexpensive and simple. So, I simply went back to +hosting [my own reverse proxy with +Nginx](file:///blog/set-up-nginx-reverse-proxy/). With the recent additions of +Unifi hardware in my server/network rack, I am much more protected against spam +and malicious attacks at the network edge than I was before I switched to +Cloudflare. # Access -Cloudflare Access, another app I used in combination with Cloudflare -Tunnel, provided an authentication screen that required you to enter -valid credentials before Cloudflare would forward you to the actual -website or app (if the website/app has their own authentication, you\'d -then have to authenticate a second time). +Cloudflare Access, another app I used in combination with Cloudflare Tunnel, +provided an authentication screen that required you to enter valid credentials +before Cloudflare would forward you to the actual website or app (if the +website/app has their own authentication, you'd then have to authenticate a +second time). -I did not replace this service with anything since I only host a handful -of non-sensitive apps that don\'t require duplicate authentication. +I did not replace this service with anything since I only host a handful of +non-sensitive apps that don't require duplicate authentication. |