Ryan Reiffenberger - Last Updated: Jul 30, 2023
Ryan Reiffenberger
Last Updated: Jul 30, 2023
Ryan is our Lead Web Architect here at Falls Technology Group. Starting in 1999, Ryan has been working on building websites, computers, and servers for over 20 years.
Short Answer – YES. You absolutely should contact your web host. While not all web hosts will include migration to CloudFlare within their plans, it is recommended to speak with a technical professional at your hosting company to ensure you are not missing any important details during the process. This includes important records such as TXT Records that control your domain’s SPF settings as well as your TXT records used for domain verification across different services like Facebook or Google.
Diving Into The Details
When making any DNS changes you need to ensure that you are properly planning ahead. DNS is the main naming system that translates your IP Addresses to Domain Names and vice-versa, and CloudFlare is the storage system for these records (among other things…). These services can take down not only your website, but your connection to external services, as well as email access if not properly configured, and can take even more time to fix depending on how often the records are updated on the internet.
When switching to Cloudflare, you are switching the provider for your DNS from your web host to the Cloudflare infrastructure. While Cloudflare has tools in place to import your existing DNS records, it is worth noting that their importing system is not 100% accurate, which can lead to outages if you’re not careful.
One way you can prevent issues is to use our guide to creating DNS records for your Web Hosting here.
