HTTP Traffic Analysis: Bandwidth, Cache & Security Monitoring Guide | Nife

The HTTP Traffic tab provides detailed insights into your application's web traffic patterns and performance metrics. Analyze request volume, bandwidth consumption, cache effectiveness, and security events.

Getting Started#

Access HTTP Traffic Monitoring#

  1. Navigate to Monitoring from the main sidebar
  2. Click the HTTP Traffic tab
  3. You'll see the configuration panel and metric cards

Configuration#

Before viewing traffic data, you need to configure your Cloudflare Zone ID:

Setting Up Your Cloudflare Zone ID#

  1. In the Configuration card, enter your Cloudflare Zone ID

    • Find your Zone ID in your Cloudflare dashboard: Domain → Overview → API
    • Format: A 32-character hexadecimal string (e.g., b032a57f01eac20ad3c4e8ba2a05bb19)

  2. Select your desired Date Range

    • Default: Last 30 days
    • Use the date picker for custom analysis periods
    • Adjust to compare specific time periods

  3. Click Fetch Data to retrieve traffic analytics

    • First-time fetch may take a few seconds
    • Data updates based on your selected date range
    • System will display "Fetching..." while loading
note

You need valid Cloudflare API credentials and appropriate permissions to fetch traffic data. Demo mode displays sample data for testing purposes.

Key Metrics#

The HTTP Traffic tab displays three primary metric cards:

Total Requests#

Shows: Complete count of HTTP requests in your date range

Why It Matters: Indicates traffic volume and application popularity

Interpretation:

  • Compare across time periods to identify growth
  • Look for anomalies indicating unusual activity
  • Use as baseline for performance testing

Example: 1.2M requests over 30 days = 40K requests/day average

Cache Hit Rate#

Shows: Percentage of requests served from cache (%)

Why It Matters:

  • Higher cache hit rates reduce server load
  • Improve user experience with faster responses
  • Reduce bandwidth costs

Optimal Range: 80-95% is considered excellent

Total Bytes: Displayed below percentage shows total bandwidth transferred

Optimization Tips:

  • Increase TTL for static content
  • Review cache rules in Cloudflare
  • Check for incorrectly cached dynamic content

Security Threats#

Shows: Number of requests blocked by security rules

Why It Matters: Indicates attack attempts and malicious traffic

What To Do:

  • Monitor threat trends over time
  • Review and adjust security rules if legitimate traffic is blocked
  • Consider enabling stricter WAF rules
  • Rate limit suspicious sources

Alert Triggers:

  • Sudden spike in threats
  • Threats from specific countries
  • Pattern-based attack detection

Traffic Charts#

Traffic Over Time#

An area chart showing dual metrics:

  • Blue Area: HTTP request volume over time
  • Green Area: Unique visitor count over time

Uses:

  • Identify traffic spikes and patterns
  • Correlate with business events
  • Detect seasonal trends
  • Spot anomalies

How to Read:

  • X-axis: Time progression
  • Y-axis: Request/visitor count
  • Peaks: High traffic periods
  • Valleys: Low traffic periods

Cache Distribution (Pie Chart)#

Shows the proportion of cached vs. un-cached requests:

  • Cached Requests: Served from edge servers (faster, lower cost)
  • Un-cached Requests: Processed by origin server (more resource-intensive)

Target Distribution:

  • 80-95% cached (excellent)
  • 50-80% cached (good)
  • Below 50% cached (needs optimization)

Optimization Strategy:

  1. Identify content with low cache rates
  2. Increase TTL for static content
  3. Review cache bypass rules
  4. Remove unnecessary cache exceptions

Top Countries (Bar Chart)#

Horizontal bar chart displaying top traffic sources by geographic location:

Information Provided:

  • Rank by request volume
  • Geographic distribution
  • Regional traffic patterns

Uses:

  • Content localization decisions
  • CDN optimization
  • Market analysis
  • Regional deployment strategies

Actions:

  • Deploy edge servers in high-traffic regions
  • Localize content for top countries
  • Adjust server resources based on geography

Daily Statistics Table#

A detailed daily breakdown showing comprehensive metrics:

ColumnDescriptionUse Case
DateThe day of the statisticsTime tracking
RequestsTotal HTTP requests processedTraffic volume
CachedRequests served from cacheCache performance
Cache RatePercentage of cached requests (green highlighting)Cache efficiency
BandwidthTotal bytes transferred (human-readable format)Cost analysis
VisitorsUnique visitors that dayUser engagement
ThreatsSecurity threats blockedSecurity posture

Reading the Table#

Example Row Analysis:

  • Date: 2026-01-06
  • Requests: 50,000
  • Cached: 42,000
  • Cache Rate: 84% (good)
  • Bandwidth: 2.5GB
  • Visitors: 5,000
  • Threats: 123

Interpretation: Good cache performance, significant traffic, moderate threat activity

Using Daily Data#

  • Identify trends: Look for consistent patterns
  • Spot anomalies: Compare to previous days
  • Plan capacity: Review peak days
  • Track growth: Compare across weeks/months

Export & Reporting#

Exporting HTTP Traffic Data#

  1. Click the Export button in the HTTP Traffic tab
  2. A CSV file downloads with filename: http-traffic-YYYY-MM-DD.csv
  3. CSV includes all columns from the Daily Statistics table

CSV File Format#

The exported CSV contains these columns:

Date, Requests, Cached, Un-cached, Total Bytes, Unique Visitors, Threats

Export Use Cases#

  • Analysis: Import into spreadsheet applications
  • Reporting: Create custom reports
  • Archival: Long-term data storage
  • Sharing: Distribute to stakeholders
  • Compliance: Regulatory requirements
  • Integration: Feed into BI tools

Excel Import Tips#

  1. Open the CSV file in Excel
  2. Data will auto-detect column formatting
  3. Use built-in charts for visualization
  4. Create pivot tables for deeper analysis
  5. Add formulas for trend calculations

Common Monitoring Scenarios#

Scenario 1: Investigate Traffic Spike#

Situation: Notice unusual traffic increase

Steps:

  1. Go to HTTP Traffic tab
  2. Adjust date range to include the spike period
  3. Review Traffic Over Time chart to identify peak times
  4. Check Top Countries to see if spike is geographic
  5. Review Daily Statistics table for the affected day
  6. Export data for detailed analysis if needed

Questions to Answer:

  • What time did the spike occur?
  • Where is the traffic coming from?
  • Is it legitimate traffic or attack?
  • Did cache hit rate change?

Scenario 2: Optimize Cache Performance#

Situation: Cache hit rate below 80%

Steps:

  1. Check Cache Distribution pie chart
  2. Review cache rate in Daily Statistics
  3. Identify which content has low cache rates
  4. Check Cloudflare cache rules
  5. Adjust TTL settings for static content
  6. Monitor after changes

Optimization Checklist:

  • ✅ Set appropriate TTL for static assets
  • ✅ Remove cache-control headers causing bypass
  • ✅ Check for query string variations
  • ✅ Review page rules affecting cache

Scenario 3: Monitor Security Threats#

Situation: Threats metric is increasing

Steps:

  1. Go to HTTP Traffic tab
  2. Monitor the Security Threats metric daily
  3. If threats spike:
    • Review which countries/IPs are attacking
    • Check attack pattern in Traffic Over Time chart
    • Analyze detailed logs

Response Actions:

  • Enable stricter security rules in Cloudflare
  • Rate limit suspicious sources
  • Update WAF (Web Application Firewall) rules
  • Block entire countries if necessary
  • Review legitimate user impact

Scenario 4: Analyze Bandwidth Usage#

Situation: Need to understand bandwidth costs

Steps:

  1. Go to HTTP Traffic tab
  2. Review Daily Statistics Bandwidth column
  3. Identify peak bandwidth days
  4. Check Cache Distribution for optimization potential
  5. Review Top Countries for regional patterns

Cost Reduction Tips:

  • Increase cache hit rate
  • Compress images and assets
  • Use modern formats (WebP)
  • Implement bandwidth limits per region

Performance Optimization#

Cache Optimization#

Current Cache Rate: Check the Cache Hit Rate metric

If Below 80%:

  1. Review cache rules in Cloudflare
  2. Increase TTL for static content
  3. Check dynamic content is not cached
  4. Monitor after changes

Bandwidth Reduction#

Strategies:

  • Compress images (50-70% reduction)
  • Minify CSS/JavaScript (20-30% reduction)
  • Use CDN caching (80-90% reduction)
  • Implement gzip compression

Request Volume Management#

Monitor Trends:

  • Daily average requests
  • Peak request times
  • Request growth rate

Optimization:

  • Implement request throttling
  • Use caching effectively
  • Optimize database queries
  • Reduce API calls

Troubleshooting#

No Data Showing#

Problem: "Failed to fetch traffic data"

Solutions:

  1. Verify Zone ID is correct (32 characters)
  2. Confirm API token has appropriate permissions
  3. Check that domain is active in Cloudflare
  4. Ensure date range is valid

Inaccurate Metrics#

Problem: Metrics seem off or incomplete

Solutions:

  1. Ensure correct date range is selected
  2. Re-fetch data by clicking "Fetch Data" button
  3. Check that your application is receiving traffic
  4. Verify Cloudflare is tracking the domain

Data Load Issues#

Problem: Dashboard loads slowly

Solutions:

  1. Try refreshing the page
  2. Check internet connection
  3. Use a shorter date range
  4. Contact support if persistent

Limits & Considerations#

ItemLimit
Historical DataLast 30 days (configurable)
Data GranularityDaily aggregation
Export File SizeUp to 10,000 rows
Time to UpdateDaily sync from Cloudflare
Date Range SelectionMinimum 1 day, Maximum 90 days
Concurrent MonitorsUnlimited

Best Practices#

Daily Routine#

  • ✅ Check traffic volume in morning
  • ✅ Monitor cache hit rate
  • ✅ Review security threats
  • ✅ Spot check top countries

Weekly Review#

  • ✅ Export and archive data
  • ✅ Review trend analysis
  • ✅ Identify optimization opportunities
  • ✅ Update security rules if needed

Monthly Reporting#

  • ✅ Generate monthly report
  • ✅ Compare month-over-month
  • ✅ Calculate bandwidth costs
  • ✅ Plan capacity for next month

Related Documentation#