Domain name resolution is the unsung hero of any company’s digital transformation strategy. The digital infrastructure relies on translating a numeric IP address to a human-readable domain name. For large enterprises with a long history of using web applications, the self-hosted DNS servers may be a relic of their early adoption of the internet and a desire to manage their domain.
However, the advantages of self-hosted DNS come with a set of challenges that can strain resources and complicate operations, like securing the authoritative DNS server and ensuring redundancy. As organizations continue to expand their digital presence, many may be reconsidering whether to maintain their self-hosted authoritative DNS or move to a managed solution.
When deciding whether to move to a managed solution, organizations should consider the benefits of both options and know what to look for if they choose to change their approach.
What are the Pros for Large Enterprises Who Self-host Their DNS?
Large enterprises often choose to self-host their DNS servers because it gives them greater control over the DNS infrastructure and helps them better meet specific functional needs.
Maintain Control
At a fundamental level, many large enterprises continue to self-host their DNS infrastructure because it enables them to control security or performance. With the organization’s consumer and workforce digital infrastructure relying on DNS, self-hosting offers control of managing speed and reliability to ensure productivity and optimize the customer experience.
Improve Performance
A self-hosted DNS server offers super-fast speeds for cached queries, cutting down on latency. For example, cached queries on a local network can have around 2 milliseconds of delay which is much faster than public DNS servers. Further, since the enterprise controls the number of outbound connections, it can minimize the number to improve application performance.
Enhanced Security
When the organization controls the DNS infrastructure, it reduces the number of third-party vendor security risks. The enterprise can implement DNSSEC aligned to its risk tolerance and set rate limiting to guard against attacks.
Customization
Self-hosting lets users customize their DNS resolver to suit their needs, granting more control compared to third-party services. Custom DNS servers can enhance user control over configurations for a tailored experience, especially when paired with tools that help with functionality and security.
What are the Cons for Large Enterprises who Self-host Their DNS?
Self-hosting an authoritative DNS server might seem appealing due to more control, but numerous drawbacks make it challenging for businesses, especially as they scale.
Resource Intensive
Setting up and maintaining a self-hosted DNS server requires having people with the skills necessary to manage it. Self-hosting DNS requires resources for:
- Choosing the right software
- Configuring forward and reverse DNS zones
- Monitoring and tweaking caching and load balancing
- Implementing and maintaining secure DNSSEC configurations
The enterprise needs to have the appropriate staffing to manage these tasks, which can become time-consuming as the digital infrastructure expands.
Cost Inefficient
Between handling several DNS servers and maintaining in-house expertise, self-hosting can become an expensive process. Further, many of the manual tasks are time consuming which increases the overall total cost of ownership.
Sophisticated Bot Attacks
A self-hosted DNS server is vulnerable to large-scale spam and bot attacks. For example, in a single day, the DNS server can receive hundreds of thousands of requests, so identifying malicious and bot traffic becomes a challenge. Meanwhile, blocking standard ports to mitigate risks can impact genuine users’ ability to access resources.
Managing Separate Servers for Internal and External zones
Running separate DNS servers for different zones increases security but adds complexity. A stealth DNS setup helps protect internal servers from external threats. However, the setup might become complicated, especially if mixed public and private resources are involved. More servers mean more updates and synchronization issues, complicating management.
High Volumes of Queries
A high-performing self-hosted DNS server can handle millions of requests per minute. Caching reduces repeated queries, but balancing multiple backend databases requires having the staffing to manage it. Further, the tools that can help manage records often require configuring and maintenance, increasing administrative costs.
Service and Business Disruption
Without reliable fallback DNS resolvers, outages from self-hosted DNS server issues can disrupt business operations. Some reasons for these service and business disruptions can include:
- Incorrect zone expiry setting
- High time-to-live values that make IP changes take longer
Hardening Servers and Updating Software
Keeping DNS software up-to-date is vital for security but takes time and money. Maintaining systems demands significant capital expenditures for hardware and operational expenses for staff. This can distract IT teams from strategic goals. Regular updates and security checks are crucial yet resource-intensive and distract IT teams from strategic goals.
Why Large Enterprises Should Embrace to Managed DNS
Maintaining a self-hosted authoritative DNS involves expenses for hardware and personnel, but managed DNS solutions offer a more cost-effective alternative that includes the following benefits:
- Cost Efficiency: Managed DNS reduces capital and operational costs.
- Resource Optimization: IT teams can focus on strategic tasks rather than managing DNS networks.
- Scalability: Managed services handle millions of DNS requests with ease.
- Security Features: These services offer robust security measures.
- Enhanced Speed: Application development can accelerate without self-hosted limitations.
Large enterprises should recognize the economic efficiency of managed DNS providers. By switching to a managed service, businesses can streamline their Internet experience and boost productivity.
5 Things to Look for in a Managed DNS Provider
When choosing a managed DNS provider, organizations should consider these five capabilities:
- Performance and Latency: A provider should provide near-zero response times to reduce latency and improve end-user experience.
- Security Features: A managed service should offer advanced, built-in security features like Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) protection and DNSSEC management.
- Scalability: Managed DNS solutions should allow easy scalability, handling millions of requests smoothly and designed to ensure 100% SLA for DNS resolution.
- Integration Capabilities: A provider should integrate with the existing infrastructure, including offering APIs that connect to security solutions like a security information and event management (SIEM) tool.
- Cost-Efficiency: Managed providers should have years of proven DNS management experience and support teams available 24/7/365 to reduce staffing costs and provide expertise.
Why Vercara’s Authoritative DNS Solution Makes Sense?
Vercara’s UltraDNS solution provides the global server resources that enterprise organizations need and the seamless integration required to fit into their current infrastructures. Our managed DNS handles up to 100 billion global authoritative DNS queries daily while maintaining near-zero response times to ensure optimal speed and reliability. With over 20 years of proven experience, we provide a 100% uptime guarantee with a global platform that is highly redundant with up to 47 nodes across 6 continents. Our trusted, authoritative networks use BGP and IP anycast routing schemes with co-located DNS nodes to provide near-zero latency response time and instant cache updates.
Organizations can work with our DNS experts, who provide 24/7/3665 support with insights that maximize UltraDNS’s value to ensure the health and security of your DNS footprint, including help with zone migrations, DNS assessments, and product guidance.
