The proxy is optional.
THE CONFIGURATION
Cloudflare's nameservers, with every record set to DNS only.
Cloudflare answers DNS queries, and traffic goes directly to us.
WHY THIS IS WORTH DOING
Fast propagation. Changes take effect in seconds rather than hours. A clean interface for managing records. Free, with no request limits. Zone export, which gives you a DNS backup.
WHAT YOU GIVE UP
Caching, filtering and attack protection. Everything that comes from the proxy.
WHO THIS SUITS
A site with local visitors where the caching benefit is modest Anyone who tried the proxy and found it caused more trouble than it solved Anyone who wants the DNS management without another system in the request path
SWITCHING BETWEEN MODES
Changing a record from DNS only to proxied is one click and takes effect immediately.
You can start with DNS only and enable the proxy later once you understand the configuration.
THAT IS THE ORDER I WOULD RECOMMEND
Move DNS first, confirm everything works, then proxy the web records and set the SSL mode correctly.
