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Powered by Cloudflare

Imperial uses Cloudflare’s global CDN network to deliver your media with industry-leading performance. With 310+ data centers in 120+ countries, your content is served from the location closest to your users.

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Network Statistics

310+ Data Centers

Spanning every continent

120+ Countries

Global presence

<50ms Latency

95th percentile worldwide

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How CDN Caching Works

When someone requests your image or video, here’s what happens:
1

User Makes Request

A user in Tokyo requests your image: https://cdn.imperial.gay/uploads/user-id/cat.jpg
2

Cloudflare Routing

The request is automatically routed to the nearest Cloudflare data center (Tokyo)
3

Cache Check

Cloudflare checks if the file is already cached at that location
4

Cache Hit (Fast Path)

If cached → File is delivered instantly (~10-30ms)
5

Cache Miss (First Time)

If not cached → Fetch from R2 storage → Cache at edge → Deliver to user
6

Subsequent Requests

Future requests from that region are served from cache instantly

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Performance Comparison

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Traditional vs CDN Delivery

User in Sydney requests file from US server:
Sydney → USA (Origin Server)
├─ DNS Resolution: ~50ms
├─ TCP Handshake: ~200ms  
├─ TLS Handshake: ~200ms
├─ HTTP Request: ~200ms
└─ Data Transfer: ~500ms (for 1MB file)

Total: ~1,150ms (1.15 seconds) 🐌
That’s 23x faster! CDN delivery can reduce load times from seconds to milliseconds.

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Cache Strategy

Imperial’s CDN caching is optimized for media delivery:

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Cache Rules

  • Cache Duration: 30 days
  • Cache Key: Full URL
  • Cache Control: public, max-age=2592000, immutable
  • Optimization: Served from edge with Cloudflare Polish (auto-optimization)
  • Cache Duration: 30 days
  • Cache Key: Full URL
  • Streaming: Range request support for smooth playback
  • Optimization: Adaptive bitrate delivery when available
  • Cache Duration: 90 days (rarely change)
  • Format: Optimized JPEG
  • Purpose: Fast gallery loading

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Global Performance

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Average Latency by Region

RegionFirst LoadCached Load
North America100-150ms20-40ms
Europe80-120ms15-35ms
Asia90-140ms18-38ms
South America120-180ms25-45ms
Oceania110-160ms22-42ms
Africa130-200ms28-50ms
These are 95th percentile numbers. Most requests are even faster!

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Advanced Features

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HTTP/3 Support

Imperial supports HTTP/3 (QUIC protocol) for even faster connections: 
HTTP/1.1: 6-8 round trips to establish connection
HTTP/2:   3-4 round trips
HTTP/3:   1-2 round trips ⚡
Benefits:
  • Faster connection establishment
  • Better performance on mobile networks
  • Improved handling of packet loss
  • Multiplexed streams

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Brotli Compression

Text-based responses (JSON, HTML) are compressed with Brotli:
  • 20-30% smaller than Gzip
  • Faster decompression on modern devices
  • Automatically enabled for all API responses

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Early Hints (103 Status Code)

Cloudflare sends early hints to browsers while the origin processes requests, allowing browsers to start loading resources sooner.

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Cache Warming

Popular content automatically stays cached across the global network:
1

Initial Upload

File is stored in R2 (origin storage)
2

First Request

File is cached at the requesting edge location
3

Popularity Detection

If file receives multiple requests, Cloudflare proactively caches it at more locations
4

Global Distribution

Viral content automatically spreads across all 310+ edge locations

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Smart Routing

Cloudflare’s Argo Smart Routing optimizes the path between edge and origin: 
Traditional Routing:
User → Edge → Public Internet → Origin
        └─ Takes the "default" internet path
        └─ May encounter congestion

Argo Smart Routing:
User → Edge → Cloudflare Private Network → Origin
        └─ Uses faster, less congested Cloudflare backbone
        └─ 30% faster on average

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DDoS Protection

Built-in protection against attacks that could slow down your content:

Layer 3/4 Protection

Mitigates network-layer attacks automatically

Layer 7 Protection

Filters malicious application-layer requests

Always Online

Serves cached content even if origin is down

Rate Limiting

Prevents abuse and ensures fair usage

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Mobile Optimization

Special optimizations for mobile devices:

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Connection Quality Adaptation

Cloudflare detects connection quality and adapts delivery:
  • Fast WiFi/5G: Full quality, parallel connections
  • 4G: Moderate optimization, pipelined requests
  • 3G/Slow: Aggressive compression, sequential loads

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Image Optimization

For supported devices, images are automatically optimized:
  • Format conversion: Serve WebP/AVIF to supporting browsers
  • Size optimization: Reduce file size without quality loss
  • Lazy loading hints: Suggest browser-level lazy loading

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Monitoring & Analytics

Track your CDN performance in real-time: 
# Check cache status via headers
curl -I https://cdn.imperial.gay/uploads/user-id/image.jpg

# Response headers:
CF-Cache-Status: HIT
CF-Ray: 8e5a4b3c2d1e0f1a-LAX
Age: 3600
Cache-Control: public, max-age=2592000

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Cache Status Values

StatusMeaning
HITServed from cache (fast!)
MISSFirst request, fetched from origin
EXPIREDCache expired, revalidating
STALEServing stale while revalidating
BYPASSCache bypassed (e.g., query parameters)

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Best Practices

Consistent URLs: Use the same URL for each file. Changing URLs creates new cache entries and wastes cache space.
Query Parameters: Avoid unnecessary query parameters. image.jpg?v=1 and image.jpg?v=2 are cached separately.
File Names: Use meaningful, permanent filenames. Imperial automatically generates stable URLs.

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Technical Deep Dive

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Anycast Network

Cloudflare uses Anycast routing where all edge locations share the same IP addresses: 
Traditional (Unicast):
├─ us-east.example.com → 1.2.3.4
├─ eu-west.example.com → 5.6.7.8
└─ asia.example.com → 9.10.11.12

Imperial/Cloudflare (Anycast):
└─ cdn.imperial.gay → 104.18.x.x
   ├─ Routes to nearest data center automatically
   └─ No manual geo-routing needed

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Cache Hierarchy

User Request
    ↓
Edge Cache (Tier 1) - 310+ locations
    ↓ (cache miss)
Regional Cache (Tier 2) - ~50 locations
    ↓ (cache miss)
Origin (R2 Storage)
This multi-tier approach means even cache misses are fast!

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Get Started

Experience the speed difference:

Upload Your First File

See how fast global delivery can be