Is anyone using the Backblaze B2 + Cloudflare combo?

As the title says. Looking to see if anyone is using the above combo successfully with different files.
I'm torn between using the above if it works as expected (no transfer/download fees for files) or going for a storage VPS.
Files are a mish-mash of different media, archives, roms etc.

DOS = HIGH?!?
I knew it was on something!

Comments

  • vyasvyas OG
    edited October 2021

    I use it Works well for images and documents.
    To an extent audio.

    Scripts, iso etc have not tried.

    Video I would not recommend.

  • Got it.

    Another question then, before an asset gets cached on Cloudflare, the asset will get pulled from origin. Does this mean that if I pull a bigger file, there will be egress costs for that first pull?

    DOS = HIGH?!?
    I knew it was on something!

  • vyasvyas OG
    edited October 2021

    Between B2 and Cloudflare no egress cost. I am assuming the content will be delivered via CF - CDN, free or otherwise
    Free B2 gives 10 GB you can also take a look at OVH Object storage meant scaleway - I believe limit is bigger.

    More info at: https://www.cloudflare.com/bandwidth-alliance/

    Documentation and support (via forums mainly) wise you will find more information/ users for b2+cf

  • Looks like Scaleway is in the same alliance does this mean a Scaleway storage + Cloudflare combo should be possible as well with no egress fees? And possible no issues with video content etc?

    DOS = HIGH?!?
    I knew it was on something!

  • DecicusDecicus OG
    edited October 2021

    @Sova said:
    Looks like Scaleway is in the same alliance does this mean a Scaleway storage + Cloudflare combo should be possible as well with no egress fees? And possible no issues with video content etc?

    From what I understand from their object storage pricing page, that's not the case. There are egress fees regardless of the bandwidth alliance.
    Though I suppose you could get a server in the same location, since transfer between object storage and other Scaleway products in the same location is free and I believe Scaleway servers have unmetered bandwidth.

  • edited October 2021

    Yes, using it with Workers.
    The first pull from B2 is takes time. B2 is slower than S3. So Wait-time is more for images.
    Then it gets cached in Cloudflare's every datacenter if particular Worker is utilized.
    If no worker is utilized then it gets cached in only one datacenter from where your user have made request.
    Also, you'll either have to make a Page Rule to "cache everything" or for specific folder like /images/ or subdomain like images.example.com (cache everything). Also on B2, you've to put cache-control header for middle-man that is Cloudflare. Or else cloudflare will not cache that image on their CDN but will only serve. To cache it use s-maxage: attribute.

    Thanked by (4)bikegremlin vyas Sova verd
  • @nickelodeon Thanks for the info. Having that said, are you storaging videos or similar assets on B2?

    DOS = HIGH?!?
    I knew it was on something!

  • for video, you can still get free egress, but cloudflare not caching the video, so cloudflare will always pull data from b2, if you want the video to be cached, you can convert you video to hls format, and change video segment extension to .css/html , and cloudflare will cache it

  • Interesting. Have been advised / read in many places best to avoid video hosting for b2+cf. this approach is new

  • @allenwalker3004 Interesting!
    I guess I'll have to try this and see how it goes with some test files.
    TBH, Scaleway looks like a promising candidate as well as I won't be pulling too much traffic monthly (under 100GB probably) and they have cold storage as well which would be perfect for at least part of the content that I plan on uploading to minimize costs.

    DOS = HIGH?!?
    I knew it was on something!

  • AdvinAdvin Hosting Provider

    @Sova said:
    @allenwalker3004 Interesting!
    I guess I'll have to try this and see how it goes with some test files.
    TBH, Scaleway looks like a promising candidate as well as I won't be pulling too much traffic monthly (under 100GB probably) and they have cold storage as well which would be perfect for at least part of the content that I plan on uploading to minimize costs.

    If you proxy Scaleway storage through a Scaleway VPS/dedicated server w/ unmetered bandwidth, it's free.

    I am a representative of Advin Servers

  • Scaleway cold storage has very slow retrieval time (hours), like aws glacier.

  • DanielDaniel OG
    edited October 2021

    @allenwalker3004 said: and change video segment extension to .css/html , and cloudflare will cache it

    This is still going to get you suspended with a free account... File extensions don't actually mean anything on the internet; content type is entirely determined by the MIME headers. Even if you set the Content-Type: text/css for your video files (which will break any video player that determines the protocol based on content type), Cloudflare do see all the traffic and they'll notice that you're serving huge "CSS" files that are actually videos.

    If you want to serve videos via Cloudflare, you really do need a paid account. They're quite strict about differentiating free accounts from paid accounts.

    Thanked by (3)lentro Sova bikegremlin
  • lentrolentro Hosting Provider

    @Daniel said:

    @allenwalker3004 said: and change video segment extension to .css/html , and cloudflare will cache it

    This is still going to get you suspended with a free account... File extensions don't actually mean anything on the internet; content type is entirely determined by the MIME headers. Even if you set the Content-Type: text/css for your video files (which will break any video player that determines the protocol based on content type), Cloudflare do see all the traffic and they'll notice that you're serving huge "CSS" files that are actually videos.

    If you want to serve videos via Cloudflare, you really do need a paid account. They're quite strict about differentiating free accounts from paid accounts.

    Yeah this strategy is interesting super sketch... best that you just be a good person and pay for what you use, as bandwidth isn't free and you'll get caught in the long run.

  • @Daniel said:

    If you want to serve videos via Cloudflare, you really do need a paid account. They're quite strict about differentiating free accounts from paid accounts.

    Precisely.
    CF may have some good features in free tier, abuses like these will cause them to shut them down or curb them. Few idiots causing greater harm.

    Here''s a good one (copied from a FB post on "lifetime" deal for shared hosting - paraphrased)
    "I bought Starthost Unlimited Hosting plan on Stacksocial and I wanted to upload 1.5 Terabytes of Video. Starthost refused to let me do that".

    Thanked by (2)Daniel bikegremlin
  • @Daniel said:

    @allenwalker3004 said: and change video segment extension to .css/html , and cloudflare will cache it

    This is still going to get you suspended with a free account... File extensions don't actually mean anything on the internet; content type is entirely determined by the MIME headers. Even if you set the Content-Type: text/css for your video files (which will break any video player that determines the protocol based on content type), Cloudflare do see all the traffic and they'll notice that you're serving huge "CSS" files that are actually videos.

    If you want to serve videos via Cloudflare, you really do need a paid account. They're quite strict about differentiating free accounts from paid accounts.

    i try run it a year with 5TB ish usage a month and no problem whatsoever, but free account caching is very bad in the first place (plus free account routing that also really bad), only got around 10-15% hit, personally i wont run this kinda trick for public usage, but i know some big streaming site doing this, and still running until now

    for masked html/css, video segment need to be make as small as possible,here is some example video segments masked as html and got cached by cloudflare
    https://imgur.com/DG4r3Ry
    the content : https://imgur.com/zlEJI3D

  • vyasvyas OG
    edited October 2021

    Pricing for Cloudflare Images:
    (copied from a FB post)

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