In this episode of This Week in NET, JQ Lau and Victor Hwang from our Network & Infrastructure Strategy team walk us through Cloudflare's 13th generation of servers — the machines that power a significant part of the internet across 330+ cities worldwide.
The Gen 13 program doubled compute density by jumping from 96 to 192 cores, but that came with an 83% drop in L3 cache. The team explains how a bold hardware bet, combined with Cloudflare's FL2 Rust-based software rewrite, turned that trade-off into a win across throughput, latency, and power efficiency.
From counterintuitive fan physics to credit card pen tests on chassis intrusion switches, this conversation covers the full stack: CPUs, memory, storage, networking, security, and what's next — including post-quantum readiness at the hardware layer.
Mentioned blog posts:
Timestamps
00:53 — Blog recap: what Cloudflare announced (including agents can now actually create Cloudflare accounts, buy domains, and deploy)
03:52 — From Gen 11 to Gen 13: the evolution of Cloudflare's servers
05:04 — Doubling compute power while cutting cache by 83%
06:54 — The journey to choosing the right CPU
10:04 — Scratchpad vs bookshelf: cache and memory explained
12:08 — Why 192 cores won over 128 cores
15:35 — FL2: Cloudflare's Rust-based software rewrite
18:12 — Hardware and software co-design: why neither works alone
18:37 — Memory, storage, and networking upgrades
22:18 — Dual GPU support and future accelerators
23:25 — Inside the Gen 13 chassis: what changed visually
24:51 — Why adding a 5th fan saves power (counterintuitive physics)
25:59 — Server security: memory encryption, PCIe encryption, intrusion detection
30:12 — 50% better performance per watt and what that means at scale
33:54 — The Austin lab: where hardware gets tested before production
35:10 — How AI helped design Gen 13
37:13 — 500 terabits per second: Cloudflare's network milestone
38:30 — What's next: Gen 14, rack-scale design, and post-quantum hardware
41:16 — Supply chain planning: lessons from COVID and the AI buildout
What is This Week in NET?
This Week in NET is Cloudflare’s weekly roundup exploring the Internet’s past, present, and future. Hosted by João Tomé with expert guests, it shares insights that matter to developers, businesses, and Internet enthusiasts alike.
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