Cloudflare just got faster and more secure, powered by Rust

6 months ago

Cloudflare has upgraded its network software, reducing median response time by 10ms and improving performance by 25%.
The new system, FL2, is built in Rust on the Oxy framework, replacing the older FL1 system based on NGINX and LuaJIT.
FL2 introduces a modular architecture with strict rules to ensure explicit interactions between product logic, improving maintainability and performance.
Oxy enables graceful restarts, reducing downtime during updates and improving reliability for long-lived connections like WebSockets.
Cloudflare has gradually rolled out FL2, starting with free customers and progressively onboarding paying customers, with plans to fully retire FL1 by early 2026.
FL2 uses less than half the CPU and memory of FL1, allowing Cloudflare to deliver more features efficiently.
The migration to FL2 has been supported by a robust testing framework, automated rollouts, and feedback from the Cloudflare community.
FL2 is more secure by design, leveraging Rust's memory safety features and strict coding standards to reduce vulnerabilities.
Cloudflare plans to complete the migration of its HTTP & TLS termination service to Rust by early next year, further optimizing its network.

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