# Host your own DNS or use a DNS specialist company?



## Wambo (Jan 14, 2016)

For the average site is it better to host your own DNS or use a company like dnsmadeeasy, cloudflare (without all the features) or your domain registar's dns hosting? Why?


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## AlbaHost (Jan 14, 2016)

In many cases its better using other dns like cloudflare which it use anycast dns, because visitors will reach faster your site which it will depend on visitors latency.


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## wlanboy (Jan 14, 2016)

AlbaHost said:


> In many cases its better using other dns like cloudflare which it use anycast dns, because visitors will reach faster your site which it will depend on visitors latency.



Second that. I am using CloudFlare for all my private domains. 
For quite static domains dns.he.net is great too.


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## MikeA (Jan 14, 2016)

Always use CloudFlare for DNS, love it.


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## Localnode (Jan 14, 2016)

CloudFlare DNS. Can't beat free.


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## DomainBop (Jan 14, 2016)

I'll be the dissenter and say if you rely exclusively on one DNS provider like CloudFlare you're introducing a single point of failure.  CloudFlare has had a couple of system wide outages over the years.


One example from 2013 (from CloudFlare's blog):



> This morning at 09:47 UTC CloudFlare effectively dropped off the Internet. The outage affected all of CloudFlare's services including DNS and any services that rely on our web proxy. During the outage, anyone accessing CloudFlare.com or any site on CloudFlare's network would have received a DNS error. Pings and Traceroutes to CloudFlare's network resulted in a "No Route to Host" error.



I vote for "host your own DNS",.  Get 3+ cheap but reliable geographically dispersed VPS's  (512MB is enough) at different providers/different networks. My preferred DNS software is PowerDNS not Bind (if you need a graphic admin interface you can use PowerAdmin which isn't a resource hog like CPanel for DNS). No single point of failure and you should be able to achieve higher uptime than if you used CloudFlare (unless you choose VPS hosts who suck or whose networks suck).


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## graeme (Jan 15, 2016)

DomainBop said:


> I vote for "host your own DNS",.  Get 3+ cheap but reliable geographically dispersed VPS's  (512MB is enough) at different providers/different networks.



Why not use  multiple providers instead?


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## TeenLinux (Jan 15, 2016)

I always use CloudFare for ALL of my domains. Mainly because it speeds up your website, protects you from L7 DDoS attacks where some DDoS protected hosts fail... And of course for the free SSL which is good for non-production or non-critical sites.


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## JahAGR (Jan 15, 2016)

DomainBop said:


> I vote for "host your own DNS",.  Get 3+ cheap but reliable geographically dispersed VPS's  (512MB is enough) at different providers/different networks. My preferred DNS software is PowerDNS not Bind (if you need a graphic admin interface you can use PowerAdmin which isn't a resource hog like CPanel for DNS).



This is my exact DNS setup. 3x cheap VPS with PowerDNS + Poweradmin. Really works well.


In the past I had used BuddyNS. Service was fine but I was always riding the limits of the free tier.


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## Localnode (Jan 17, 2016)

The only problem with hosting your own DNS (from a shared perspective) is resellers don't have access to the DNS cluster by default. You have to add them manually so they can use the external ones.
Which is where Rage4 and other DNS providers come in with WHM API.


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## ikoula (Jan 19, 2016)

Hello,


i'd say it depends on you website's content.


If you want to manage your dns and the way records are replicated use your own DNS.


If you need to protect your sites use cloudflare.


If you want the easy way use your registrar's DNS.


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## fm7 (Jan 21, 2016)

Wambo said:


> For the average site is it better to host your own DNS or use a company like dnsmadeeasy, cloudflare (without all the features) or your domain registar's dns hosting? Why?



IMO hosting nameservers can be justified only for a (very) few use cases. For average sites, using the domain registrar's nameservers is fine. If you want server monitoring/DNS failover, dnsmadeeasy is great.


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## itnycsilicon (Jan 21, 2016)

Use a commercial DNS provider. DNS is (a) tricky to setup and (b) needs to be massively redundant..


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## mikeyur (Jan 21, 2016)

Route53 and CloudFlare personally.


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## AtlanticServers (Jan 22, 2016)

I host own DNS servers 


are sometimes used CDN solutions (CloudFlare or etc)


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## mitgib (Jan 26, 2016)

As my golden rule, if you don't have root, don't use it. I host my own DNS, cPanel DNSONLY and PowerDNS, all are diverse and if there is a problem, I have nobody but myself to blame and can fix the issue in minutes, when there is one.  very rare I have DNS issues, and when my users have issues, I can fix their problem instead of relying on some 3rd party.


The only thing I rely on 3rd parties for is SSL certs and domain registration


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## hmb-patrick (Feb 7, 2016)

I will suggest to use CDN provider like cloudflare for DNS management of a domain names.


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## UltratechHost (Feb 19, 2016)

Sometimes own DNS is best or go with CloudFlare


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## drmike (Feb 19, 2016)

Like most things, all the moving parts are tedious horror to keep track of.


I've used CloudFlare - isn't bad, just might end up with downtime and vendor that can change biz on whim.  We see that sort of thing too often with tech.


Rage4 is alright too.  Free tier and some features might be interested in.


Lately, I've been leaving DNS to domain registrars.


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## Neo (Feb 19, 2016)

I use Rage4, moved away from PDNS clustered with MYSQL Replication, had enought Nodes for that but DDOS protection was a concern.


But now since Rage4 revoked Unlimited from Sponsored Accounts (early Promo Accounts/Free Paid like 12 bucks per year) and moved it to 100mio request no idea what happens if someone request from ther servers 120mio times just to piss me off.


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## drmike (Feb 19, 2016)

Neo said:


> I use Rage4, moved away from PDNS clustered with MYSQL Replication, had enought Nodes for that but DDOS protection was a concern.
> 
> 
> But now since Rage4 revoked Unlimited from Sponsored Accounts (early Promo Accounts/Free Paid like 12 bucks per year) and moved it to 100mio request no idea what happens if someone request from ther servers 120mio times just to piss me off.



Rage4 has been pretty cheap, however lots of complaints about the lookups used and wild fluctuations.


I like their provider buy in model.  Wish more people would buy into it / offer.


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## Neo (Feb 19, 2016)

Yeah its cheap, you can get a account for 12EUR a Year for private use from Prometeus.net.


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## GM2015 (Feb 19, 2016)

I'm all for self-hosting services, but for the life of me can't figure out powerdns. I've tried it a few times on VM-s and the server never answered to dig.


I use cloudflare for everything for now.


Indeed, domainbop's comment of failure.


Imagine they drop, lock and purge all free accounts in 30 minutes.


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## drmike (Feb 20, 2016)

GM2015 said:


> I'm all for self-hosting services, but for the life of me can't figure out powerdns. I've tried it a few times on VM-s and the server never answered to dig.
> 
> 
> I use cloudflare for everything for now.
> ...



Been years since I had PowerDNS going here... Was never simple.


Perhaps someone can share their install notes or point to working tutorial?


This is a simple single instance install with MariaDB:


https://www.digitalocean.com/community/tutorials/how-to-install-and-configure-powerdns-with-a-mariadb-backend-on-ubuntu-14-04


Simple single server Raspberry Pi install:


http://workshop.botter.ventures/2013/10/01/how-to-setup-a-dns-server-with-powerdns-on-raspberry-pi/


Single server CentOS install:


http://www.tecmint.com/install-powerdns-poweradmin-mariadb-in-centos-rhel/


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## GM2015 (Feb 20, 2016)

drmike said:


> Been years since I had PowerDNS going here... Was never simple.
> 
> 
> Perhaps someone can share their install notes or point to working tutorial?
> ...



That's what I've followed on Debian 8(mostly ubuntu 14.04 tutorials work, sometimes you have to modify file path and package names) and there was no response coming from bind when queried with dig. I've set bind to accept queries from 10.0.0.0/8 and localhost. It never answered despite reboots/service restarts.


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## drmike (Feb 20, 2016)

Weird situation, always something overlooked.


How about binding it in config file to 127.0.0.1 and querying directly against that.  Be sure the process is indeed running.  I forget if it gracefully fails / notifies you when things go wrong.


Let me see if another clean tutorial out there that is maybe a tad better.


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## drmike (Feb 20, 2016)

Little better tutorial with this one.. using plain old MySQL... Some debugging towards the end of it:
http://www.unixmen.com/how-to-install-powerdns-on-ubuntu-14-04/


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## DomainBop (Feb 20, 2016)

GM2015 said:


> That's what I've followed on Debian 8(mostly ubuntu 14.04 tutorials work, sometimes you have to modify file path and package names) and there was no response coming from bind when queried with dig. I've set bind to accept queries from 10.0.0.0/8 and localhost. It never answered despite reboots/service restarts.



try:


```
rm /etc/powerdns/pdns.d/pdns.simplebind.conf
```


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## GM2015 (Feb 22, 2016)

drmike said:


> Little better tutorial with this one.. using plain old MySQL... Some debugging towards the end of it:
> http://www.unixmen.com/how-to-install-powerdns-on-ubuntu-14-04/






DomainBop said:


> try:
> 
> 
> 
> rm /etc/powerdns/pdns.d/pdns.simplebind.conf



It was surely something in the config directory in the default config files that stopped pdns from replying. Now it's working, except for the resolver's returning nothing! But I'll look into it.


Thanks for the link and ideas.


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## VpsAG (Feb 22, 2016)

For the average user I would recommend using Cloudflare DNS. There is no better option. If you want more specialized design, you are not the average user anymore.


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## web-project (Apr 6, 2016)

We do host our own DNS, setup in different locations and different nodes, very easy and uptime is great compare to just one server.


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## fm7 (Apr 6, 2016)

web-project said:


> We do host our own DNS, setup in different locations and different nodes, very easy and uptime is great compare to just one server.



1. "just one server" violates RFC


2. Nameserver uptime doesn't matter


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## drmike (Apr 6, 2016)

fm7 said:


> 1. "just one server" violates RFC
> 
> 
> 2. Nameserver uptime doesn't matter



No penalty or find for violating RFCs   Just more expected downtime with the SPOF (Single Point of Failure).


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## fm7 (Apr 6, 2016)

drmike said:


> No penalty or find for violating RFCs   Just more expected downtime with the SPOF (Single Point of Failure).



No penalty for violating anything. 


You want 2+ nameservers because route is the most frequent point of failure.


BTW a server may be "down" for a cache nameserver and "up" for a client application running elsewhere.


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## web-project (Jun 27, 2016)

fm7 said:


> 1. "just one server" violates RFC
> 
> 
> 2. Nameserver uptime doesn't matter



tell us where did I mentioned the one server? if the nameservers located in different networks and different node as I mentioned in post above!


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## retrack (Jul 4, 2016)

Off course Cloudflare and Route53 are good providers but I was amazed that DnSimple did not get quoted. It is a rather effective service and like the name suggest simple and with nice documentation.


Bottom line, my answer is use a provider, self hosting DNS can bite very hard if you do not know exactly what you are doing. DNS failures are one of the most common sources of outages.


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## HostServ (Jul 5, 2016)

We are still in the testing stages with our DNS plans. We are trying a few different ways including CloudFlare and cPanel DNS. We are trying to bring speed and availability to the table.


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## WiredBlade (Jul 20, 2016)

JahAGR said:


> This is my exact DNS setup. 3x cheap VPS with PowerDNS + Poweradmin. Really works well.
> 
> 
> In the past I had used BuddyNS. Service was fine but I was always riding the limits of the free tier.



Do you have a blog or website where you share your experience of hosting your DNS using PowerDNS? I made some efforts but was not able to get it to work properly.


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## Walnuthost (Aug 7, 2016)

Better use dns like cloudfare for it speeds up your website.


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## Nogics Technologies (Sep 21, 2016)

I am using Cloudflare and quite happy with it. No more "PAGE NOT FOUND" errors for static pages during very small downtime such as reboots etc.


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## PowerUpHosting-Udit (Sep 23, 2016)

That depends on what you are trying to do and what you are trying to achieve. 


*Your DNS:*
Complete control over your DNS, you can make your changes, have multiple failover setups and won't cost you additional to set up a private DNS


*Using Premium DNS:*
Depends on which one you are choosing but can take of things like DDoS protection, Anycast DNS, CDN, etc. all integrated, so you go through less hassle. 

It depends on what you are trying to achieve and based on that you can make a decision.


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## jeff2600 (Sep 26, 2016)

For me it's definitely better to use a third-party DNS that's 100% independent from your host. This way you get flexibility during downtimes and site migrations.


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## copperhost (Nov 22, 2016)

I recommend if you know how to do your own or you can get someone to set it up for you then you should do that


if not then you can try CloudFare


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## dimemiip (Nov 27, 2016)

I use Cloudflare and I am happy with their service.


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