CloudFlare Now Supports WebSockets

This post introduces Cloudflare's support for WebSockets, a significant advancement in real-time web communication. It details the technical challenges faced in supporting this new protocol, which requires persistent, long-lived connections unlike traditional HTTP. The post explains how Cloudflare adapted its network stack, particularly concerning connection tuple management and the expansion of ephemeral port ranges, to effectively proxy and accelerate WebSocket traffic for its customers. This enables more dynamic web applications like multiplayer games and chat services.