An adorable graphical depiction of the CloudFlare software at work
(WEB HOST INDUSTRY REVIEW) — Since its public launch Monday at San Francisco’s TechCrunch Disrupt Conference (disrupt.techcrunch.com), web service performance and cloud security provider CloudFlare (www.cloudflare.com) has made significant partnerships with web host HostGator (www.hostgator.com) and SSL certificate provider GlobalSign (www.globalsign.com).
Based in Palo Alto, California, CloudFlare describes itself as a “firewall in the cloud.” The company’s product optimizes web performance and protects sites by blocking threats through data collected from its distributed spam tracker Project Honey Pot (www.projecthoneypot.org) and other third party resources.
Project Honey Pot launched in 2004 by CloudFlare co-founders Matthew Prince and Lee Holloway to track the origins of spam. In 2009, CloudFlare’s head of user experience Michelle Zatlyn came up with the idea to not only track spam, but stop it completely, and CloudFlare was born.
On Wednesday, GlobalSign announced it was selected to provide CloudFlare with its SSL technology designed for virtualized environments. According to the press release, CloudFlare customers will be able to activate GlobalSign SSL technology as a “pro” feature.
CloudFlare currently offers a free and a pro version and is developing its enterprise service.
“Our customers needed a solution that would provide them with SSL security options that were competitively priced, flexible, and easy to deploy,” said chief executive officer of CloudFlare Matthew Prince. “GlobalSign’s SSL technology fits our customer’s needs and allows us to offer a security solution that can be easily deployed as a service through our cloud.”
HostGator announced its partnership with CloudFlare Monday, providing its software-as-a-service security to a customer base representing more than 4 million domain names.
CloudFlare says the product can be used with any web host and domain without installing any software or hardware, maintaining a site’s existing code.
Integrated into HostGator’s control panel, CloudFlare can be installed by customers with one click, said Prince.
“CloudFlare is a win-win product. It not only provides an extra layer of website security protection and reduces server load, but it informs people who are spreading viruses around,” said chief technology officer for Hostgator.com Dave Collins. “CloudFlare is going to become popular very quickly.”
In April 2009, CloudFlare won the Harvard Business Plan competition. It launched a private beta among specific members of Project Honey Pot in June 2010.
Last Tuesday CloudFlare announced on its blog (blog.cloudflare.com) the addition of community evangelist Damon Billian to its team. Billian was the first community manager at PayPal (www.paypal.com) and recently evangalized for SimplyHired (www.simplyhired.com) and Mint.com (www.mint.com).
About Nicole Henderson
Nicole Henderson writes full-time for the Web Host Industry Review where she covers daily news and features online, as well as in print. She has a bachelor of journalism from Ryerson University in Toronto, and has been writing for the WHIR since September 2010. You can find her on Twitter @NicoleHenderson.
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