Cloudflare has announced improvements to its Smart Tiered Cache feature, allowing developers to specify cloud region hints for origins hosted on major public cloud providers. This enhancement enables more precise upper tier selection, reducing latency and improving cache hit ratios.
Key changes:
- Cloud region hints: Developers can now provide hints for regions on AWS, GCP, Azure, and Oracle Cloud. These hints are specified via the
cf.regionworker field or theCloudflare-Cloud-Regionheader. - Precise upper tier selection: Cached content is served from Cloudflare data centers geographically closest to the origin cloud region, minimizing round trips and improving performance.
- Automatic detection: If no hints are provided, Cloudflare will automatically infer the cloud region based on the origin's network latency.
- API and dashboard support: Configure via the Cloudflare API using the
smart_tiered_cachesetting or through the dashboard under Caching > Configuration.
For developers, this means faster content delivery for applications hosted on public clouds. By aligning Cloudflare's cache with the origin's specific region, you reduce cross-region data transfer and latency, which is critical for global audiences. This feature works seamlessly with existing tiered cache configurations and requires no code changes beyond adding the optional region hint. Whether you're running a multi-region deployment or a single cloud setup, Smart Tiered Cache now adapts more intelligently to your infrastructure.
Source: https://blog.cloudflare.com/smart-tiered-cache-for-public-clouds/