The Cloudflare Blog: New standards for a faster and more private Internet

Source URL: https://blog.cloudflare.com/new-standards
Source: The Cloudflare Blog
Title: New standards for a faster and more private Internet

Feedly Summary: Cloudflare’s customers can now take advantage of Zstandard (zstd) compression, offering 42% faster compression than Brotli and 11.3% more efficiency than GZIP. We’re further optimizing performance for our customers with HTTP/3 prioritization and BBR congestion control, and enhancing privacy through Encrypted Client Hello (ECH).

AI Summary and Description: Yes

**Short Summary with Insight:**
The provided text emphasizes Cloudflare’s pioneering efforts in enhancing web performance through innovations like Zstandard compression and privacy with Encrypted Client Hello (ECH). By prioritizing speed while safeguarding user privacy, Cloudflare is addressing critical needs for performance and security in the evolving internet landscape. The advancements in compression and the rollout of ECH reflect significant strides towards a more user-centric approach in web technology, making these developments highly relevant to professionals in AI, cloud, and security sectors.

**Detailed Description:**
The text covers several key advancements from Cloudflare, primarily focusing on web performance optimization and user privacy. Here’s a detailed breakdown of the content’s significance:

– **Zstandard Compression:**
– **Performance Efficiency:** Zstandard (zstd) offers compression speeds that are 42% faster than Brotli while achieving comparable or better compression ratios.
– **Direct Impacts on Latency:** Faster compression reduces initial processing times when serving web requests, leading to quicker website loading times and enhanced user experience.
– **Adoption and Support:** Zstandard has been integrated into Nginx, a popular web server software, making it accessible to a broader range of applications and workflows.
– **Future Potential:** There are plans to enhance Zstandard’s capabilities with higher compression levels, supporting dynamic content efficiently.

– **Encrypted Client Hello (ECH):**
– **Privacy Innovation:** ECH encrypts parts of the TLS handshake, securing the Server Name Indication (SNI) and ensuring that user web requests remain private from eavesdroppers.
– **Smoothing User Experience:** By maintaining the confidentiality of the destination during connection setups, ECH helps facilitate secure browsing without compromising speed.
– **Integration with DNS:** ECH works seamlessly with new DNS standards to provide crucial parameters for secure connections, enhancing the overall integrity of data transmission across the internet.

– **Impact on Web Performance:**
– **Prioritization Techniques:** Cloudflare is investing in technologies like HTTP/3 prioritization and BBR congestion control to further streamline data flow and resource delivery.
– **Analytics and Measurement:** The use of real-time user metrics (RUM) allows for continuous improvement based on actual user experiences, ensuring the efficacy of new technologies in live environments.

– **Future Work and Commitments:**
– Cloudflare’s commitment to continually innovate in compression algorithms, privacy technology, and performance optimization aims to meet the ever-growing demands of users and businesses globally.
– The focus on making advanced technologies accessible reflects a dedication to empowering businesses with the tools needed to provide fast and secure services.

The implications of these developments extend to various fields including AI, information security, and cloud computing, as they address foundational aspects of user experience, efficiency, and data protection in modern internet applications.