Converge – Cloudflare Outage Access SOP

1. Why Converge Uses Cloudflare

Converge uses Cloudflare as our global network edge for:

• Security – DDoS protection, WAF rules, threat blocking, bot mitigation
• Speed – edge caching, low-latency routing, and global load balancing
• Reliability – Cloudflare’s Anycast network provides resilient delivery
• Traffic Management – DNS, SSL termination, and performance optimization

These services enable Converge to provide secure, high-performance, large-scale stakeholder sessions for clients worldwide.

Cloudflare is widely regarded as the most trusted global edge network, and outages are extremely rare.

2. What Happens in the Rare Event Cloudflare Is Unreachable

If Cloudflare experiences a major global outage:

• The startconverge.com domain may temporarily fail to resolve.
• Participants may see “This site can’t be reached” or DNS errors.
• Session leaders and participants may not be able to load Paulsen’s custom access link:

https://paulsen.startconverge.com

The Converge servers and application remain fully operational—only the Cloudflare-hosted DNS layer is unavailable.

To ensure continuity, Converge maintains a secondary access domain that bypasses Cloudflare completely.

3. Alternate (Backup) Access Domain

In the event Cloudflare is down, all Paulsen employees and participants should use:

https://paulsen.buildconverge.com

This domain:

• Bypasses Cloudflare entirely
• Points directly to Converge’s secure servers
• Is always available regardless of Cloudflare’s status

Direct participant session links

Anywhere you would normally use:

https://startconverge.com/auth/session?...  

Replace startconverge.com with buildconverge.com:

https://buildconverge.com/auth/session?s=XXXX&g=YYYY

Converge support can provide the correct URL if needed.

4. Internal Steps Converge Takes During a Cloudflare Outage

Converge will:

1. Switch Paulsen’s system configuration to use the backup domain (buildconverge.com).
2. Update participant login links (session URL replacements).
3. Validate that Paulsen’s dedicated route (paulsen.buildconverge.com) is active.
4. Monitor traffic and performance throughout the downtime.
5. Notify Paulsen when Cloudflare returns to normal.

These steps ensure seamless access for participants even if DNS propagation delays occur.

5. What Paulsen Should Do During a Cloudflare Outage

If paulsen.startconverge.com is unreachable:

✔ Step 1 — Switch to the backup domain

Use:

https://paulsen.buildconverge.com

✔ Step 2 — Replace any participant access links

Change:

https://startconverge.com/auth/session...

to:

https://buildconverge.com/auth/session...

✔ Step 3 — Notify your Converge support contact

We will confirm the backup routing is active and functioning.

✔ Step 4 — Continue your session normally

All platform features (video, audio, activities, exports) remain fully available.

6. After Cloudflare Recovers

Once Cloudflare restores service:

• Normal access via paulsen.startconverge.com resumes.
• You may continue using buildconverge.com, but the standard domain will again be preferred.
• Converge automatically switches configurations back to primary routing.
• No action required from Paulsen unless otherwise communicated.

7. Summary

Cloudflare outage impact:

Only affects startconverge.com DNS → servers remain fully online.

During outage:

Use https://paulsen.buildconverge.com for all session access and participant entry.

Afterward:

Return to paulsen.startconverge.com once Cloudflare is restored.

This ensures Paulsen can run live sessions reliably—even during rare global network disruptions.