HTTPS SSL on CloudFlare

Nowadays, many of the server hosts are using CloudFlare to speed up and secure their site, but how can you deploy the SSL certificate after your site being redirected to CloudFlare? Actually there are many ways to do that, some of the options are even for FREE!

Cloudflare SSL operates in different modes depending on the level of security required and the amount of configuration you’re willing to do. Traffic to the end user will always be encrypted, which means your website will always enjoy the benefits of HTTPS. However, traffic between Cloudflare and your origin server can be configured in a variety of ways.

Flexible SSL
Flexible SSL encrypts traffic from Cloudflare to end users of your website, but not from Cloudflare to your origin server. This is the easiest way to enable HTTPS because it doesn’t require installing an SSL certificate on your origin. While not as secure as the other options, Flexible SSL does protect your visitors from a large class of threats including public WiFi snooping and ad injection over HTTP.

Full SSL
Full SSL mode provides encryption from end users to Cloudflare and from Cloudflare to your origin server. This requires an SSL certificate on your origin server. In Full SSL mode, you have three options for certificates to install on your server: one issued by a Certificate Authority (Strict), one issued by Cloudflare (Origin CA), or a self signed certificate. It is recommended that you use a certificate obtained through Cloudflare Origin CA.

Origin CA
Origin CA uses a Cloudflare-issued SSL certificate instead of one issued by a Certificate Authority. This reduces much of the friction around configuring SSL on your origin server, while still securing traffic from your origin to Cloudflare. Instead of having your certificate signed by a CA, you can generate a signed certificate directly in the Cloudflare dashboard.