opendns.com users?

iBertus · 2006-09-04 18:21:37

I'm giving OpenDNS.com a try for my cable connection as opposed to my ISPs DNS server, which is really slow. So far, so good. The speed is much faster than the ISPs servers. Are there any other free DNS services around that are fast and may be better than OpenDNS? Also, how much work is required to setup a personal DNS server on my network to handle internet DNS requests?

kill · 2006-09-05 02:11:25

iBertus wrote:

how much work is required to setup a personal DNS server on my network to handle internet DNS requests?

That will all depend on what you install. Personally I use pdnsd, but there is also [url=http://www.bind9.net/Bind[/url] and djbdns.
I use pdnsd because it unlike the other two it saves the cache to disk upon termination so it's not lost between reboots. The other two just keep their cache in ram.

I get the feeling from asking how hard it is you don't know much about DNS. Here is a mini explanation that will conufuse you. There are two types of DNS servers a cache and a server. Now pdnsd is only a cache. Djbdns has a cache as well as a server. Bind can be run as either or both but it's the same binary. The author of djbdns has a good write up on why it's a good idea to separate the two. You just want a cache.

However you don't want a cache like described here using dnsmasq if you want a full blown caching DNS server. Dnsmasq will only save dns info from a particular sever like OpenDNS or your isp. The other three mentioned above are actuall caching servers not simply caches. Simply put you can configure then to make requests as well as cache the requests.

Confused? You're better off using OpenDNS. It's a good service and they take all the guess work out of it. If you really want to try your own server check out all the links scattered about above and post back with some more specific questions.

AllTom · 2006-09-05 12:02:23

I have been using OpenDNS ever since my ISP's DNS servers told me that half the Internet was gone for an entire day, then technical support said that I just had to "wait," and that using somebody else's perfectly working DNS was "not recommended." I'm just that rebellious.

It works great, and so far it actually has caught one typo of mine---I don't think that service should be global like they tried, but it's nice to be able to turn it on like this by switching to OpenDNS.

iBertus · 2006-09-05 14:35:56

Yes, I will likely stick with OpenDNS for awhile. It seems much faster than my ISPs DNS server. I may setup a local DNS cache server when I have a bit of extra hardware on the network to run the server.

benplaut · 2006-09-10 21:37:23

anyone else have trouble with IRC on opendns? not working on mine...

majikstreet · 2006-09-13 20:31:08

I used to use http://freedns.afraid.org/ ... it was pretty nice -- it did have some catches though, but overall it was nice.

Arch Linux

#1 2006-09-04 18:21:37

opendns.com users?

#2 2006-09-05 02:11:25

Re: opendns.com users?

#3 2006-09-05 12:02:23

Re: opendns.com users?

#4 2006-09-05 14:35:56

Re: opendns.com users?

#5 2006-09-10 21:37:23

Re: opendns.com users?

#6 2006-09-13 20:31:08

Re: opendns.com users?

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