Cloudflare acts as an intermediary (or proxy) between your site and its visitors. Every request first passes through Cloudflare’s servers: if the content is already cached, it’s delivered instantly from its global network. Otherwise, Cloudflare retrieves it from your hosting server and stores it for future requests.
This intermediary layer adds powerful security by filtering out malicious traffic while simultaneously distributing your content through a worldwide network—giving your visitors faster, geo-optimized access wherever they are.