Zimbabwe's internet is now slightly faster thanks to Cloudflare's Zimbabwean new data centre
-
Loading... - Kanoro Okeyo
- 03 Aug 2022
- 98 Views
- 0 Like
- 0 Comment
Most people just think of the internet in terms of social media these days but at its heart, the internet is just a vast network of connected computers. All most of us have to worry about are the data costs we have to pay to our internet service providers that often double as our mobile network providers. Behind the scenes, though there is a large contingent of companies that are always working hard to make sure that we get a fast and flawless internet experience. One of these big operators is Cloudflare and a couple of months ago they made the Zimbabwean internet noticeably faster by launching a Zimbabwean data centre with an unnamed partner who is probably Liquid Intelligent Technologies.
Cloudflare an important juggernaut you may have never heard of
If you are not a nerd you have probably never heard of Cloudflare unless perhaps if you are a Techzim reader and have seen one of my articles on them there. Cloudflare provides nerd-like sounding services that make the internet faster, allow you to quickly load your favourite websites and make sure that they stay online even when they are attacked by hackers. They do this by creating a vast network of computers in hundreds of cities and locations around the world and working with companies that make websites and apps. This of course includes us, Zimpricecheck.
Their most popular service is known as CDN also known as Content Delivery Network. This is a geek speak for a setup that allows you to access a website from the location close to you. So for example, if you are in London the Zimpricecheck website will be cached (stored) on a Cloudflare Server in London and it take you less than 20 milliseconds to reach it. Given Cloudflare’s vast network it does not matter whether you are in Australia, Tokyo or now Harare, the Zimpricecheck website will be locally available making it faster and easier to access. They do this for millions of other sites and not just Zimpricecheck. It all sounds like gibberish but trust us, it makes the difference between a site taking a minute to load on your phone and it loads in less than 3 seconds. Read More…
