cloudflare radar is one of Cloudflare’s services that allows you to check the status of Internet disruption.
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What is cloudflare?
Cloudflare is a company that offers a variety of internet security and performance services. They are essentially a big network that sits between visitors and the websites or online services they are trying to access. Cloudflare can help websites in a few ways:
- Security: They can act as a shield against malicious attacks, like those trying to take down a website with a DDoS (distributed denial-of-service) attack.
- Performance: By having servers all over the world, Cloudflare can deliver content to visitors faster, no matter where they are located.
- Reliability: If a website’s main server goes down, Cloudflare can sometimes keep the site up and running by serving a cached version of the content.
Cloudflare’s services are used by a wide range of organizations, from small businesses to major corporations. They even offer a free tier of service for personal websites.tunesharemore_vert
What is cloudflare radar?
Cloudflare Radar is a tool that offers insights into internet traffic patterns, security threats, and technological trends across the globe. It leverages data from two main sources:
- Cloudflare’s global network: This vast network gives them a unique view of internet traffic patterns around the world.
- Aggregated and anonymized data from Cloudflare’s 1.1.1.1 public DNS resolver: This service is popular among users, and the anonymized data it collects helps paint a broader picture of internet usage.
Think of Cloudflare Radar as a giant window into internet health. Here’s what you can see through that window:
- Traffic trends: See how internet traffic volume fluctuates over time for different regions.
- Disruptions and outages: Cloudflare Radar can identify internet disruptions based on their analysis of traffic patterns.
- Popular domains: Get daily insights into the most visited websites using data from their 1.1.1.1 DNS resolver.
- Browser usage: Track which web browsers are most commonly used by people accessing the internet.
- Attack landscape: Cloudflare Radar includes data on application-layer attacks, providing some insight into current threats.
There’s even a free API available for researchers and anyone interested in delving deeper into internet usage patterns. The data is accessible under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International license
Training to check internet status with cloudflare radar
Cloudflare Radar itself isn’t designed for actively checking internet status in a real-time monitoring sense. However, it can be a great tool to understand general internet health and identify trends over time.
Here’s how you can leverage Cloudflare Radar to understand internet health:
- Explore Real-time Insights: Head over to the Cloudflare Radar website (https://developers.cloudflare.com/radar/). This page showcases current internet events, trending domains, and attack activity.
- Monitor for Disruptions: While not real-time monitoring, significant disruptions or outages might be reflected in the “Latest News” section or through spikes or drops in traffic data for a specific region.
- Identify Attack Trends: The attack landscape section provides insights into current types of application-layer attacks. This can help you stay informed about potential threats.
For real-time internet status monitoring, consider these alternatives:
- Cloudflare Status Page: This page (https://www.cloudflarestatus.com/) provides real-time information on the operational health of Cloudflare’s global network.
- Down Detector: This website (https://downdetector.com/) allows you to check for outages affecting various websites and online services based on user reports.
- Your ISP’s Status Page: Many internet service providers (ISPs) offer status pages that provide information about network outages or maintenance.
By combining insights from Cloudflare Radar with real-time monitoring tools, you can gain a more comprehensive understanding of internet health.
How does cloudflare radar collect information about Internet disruptions?
cloudflare radar gathers information on internet disruptions through a two-pronged approach:
- Traffic Anomaly Detection: Their global network constantly monitors internet traffic patterns. When significant drops in traffic occur, Cloudflare investigates further. This investigation might involve:
- Checking status updates and related communications from Internet Service Providers (ISPs).
- Looking for news reports about cable cuts, government orders, power outages, or natural disasters that could explain the traffic anomaly.
- Public DNS Resolver Data: Cloudflare runs a popular public DNS resolver service, 1.1.1.1. This service anonymizes the data it collects, but it can still reveal patterns of internet usage. By analyzing trends in this anonymized data, Cloudflare can identify potential disruptions.
Here’s a breakdown of how each source contributes:
- Global Network: This provides real-time insights into traffic patterns. Sudden drops can indicate potential disruptions, prompting further investigation.
- Public DNS Resolver Data: This anonymized data offers a broader perspective on internet usage patterns. Trends in this data can highlight potential disruptions over a wider geographical area.
By combining these two sources, Cloudflare Radar builds a comprehensive picture of internet health and identifies potential disruptions. They record these disruptions only when they have enough evidence to correlate them with observed traffic drops and confirm their cause through external sources.
Additional points to note:
- Cloudflare Radar doesn’t necessarily provide real-time information on outages. There might be a delay as they investigate and confirm the disruption.
- You can’t use Cloudflare Radar to actively check the status of a specific website or internet connection in real-time.
Is CloudFlare Radar more reliable or NetBlocks?
Here’s a breakdown of Cloudflare Radar and NetBlocks to help you decide which is more reliable for your needs:
Focus:
- Cloudflare Radar: Provides insights into general internet health, traffic trends, outages, and attack landscapes.
- NetBlocks: Specializes in monitoring internet disruptions and censorship events around the world.
Data Source:
- Cloudflare Radar: Relies primarily on data from Cloudflare’s own network and public DNS resolver (1.1.1.1).
- NetBlocks: Uses a wider range of sources, including network probes, real-time data analysis, and collaboration with internet rights organizations.
Reliability for Specific Needs:
- General Internet Health: For a broad view of global internet traffic patterns, outages, and attack trends, Cloudflare Radar is a good starting point.
- Internet Disruptions & Censorship: For real-time information on internet shutdowns, throttling, and censorship events, NetBlocks is a more reliable source. Their focus and wider range of data sources make them more specialized in this area.
Additional Considerations:
- Real-time vs. Trends: Cloudflare Radar primarily shows trends and may not provide real-time outage information. NetBlocks focuses on real-time monitoring of disruptions.
- Target Audience: Cloudflare Radar caters to a broad audience interested in internet health. NetBlocks is more targeted towards researchers, journalists, and organizations working on internet freedom issues.
In conclusion:
Both Cloudflare Radar and NetBlocks are reliable sources for internet information, but they excel in different areas. Choose the one that best aligns with your specific needs.