The DNS is magic, is essential, is the reason why the internet is possible!
It answers users’ queries of all sorts and finds the real addresses of the sites we love.
There is no doubt that we need it on a global scale, but do we need it for our websites? Yes! And the easiest way to get it is through a Managed DNS provider.
What is Managed DNS?
A Managed DNS service means that a DNS provider has created a system of name servers that you can use to host your DNS records and increase your site or application’s performance and availability.
You typically get access to a control panel, where you can easily create DNS zones (Primary and Secondary DNS zone), manage DNS records, and add additional locations for redundancy and speed.
Can’t I have my own DNS?
Yes, you can create your own DNS server. Or even multiple servers and create a dependency between them, where one is the Primary, and the rest are Secondary.
The thing is that it will take a lot of time! Setting up FreeBSD or any Linux distro and then configuring DNS server doesn’t happen in a few seconds.
It is expensive too! Imagine renting servers in several countries. It can go as much as a few thousand per month.
The benefit will be in full control. You can manage the DNS the way you like. There won’t be any query’s quota per month.
So should you?
It is mostly not worth the time and effort, especially if you can get a lot better results from a third-party managed DNS provider.
Benefits of Managed DNS
- It is easy to use. Ok, maybe not quite easy, but far more manageable than having to set up your own DNS servers.
- It is cheaper. In comparison with having multiple servers in different locations, having a Managed DNS plan is dirty cheap.
- You could scale up or scale down your DNS. We live in an on-demand time. We want something, and we want it instantly. We need less, that could be arranged quickly too. You can increase your demand with time or have traffic spikes because of promotions. With a Managed DNS, you can prepare and adapt fast.
- Performance is great. You might set up a few DNS servers on your own, but can you use 20, or 30, or even 50? With most Managed DNS providers, you can set multiple points of presence (PoPs).
- Be available more. As I mention, there are multiple PoPs that you can use. Create your DNS networking to manage the traffic and balance the load. You still could get attacked, and you can have a server or multiple servers down at the same time, but there is a big chance at least one will stand up and answers the queries.
- Have good security. There are different security benefits. You can have a Managed DNS that includes DDoS protection. It could negate strong DDoS attacks and keep you up. Also, you can set up different DNS records and authenticate and validate your emails. That way, you won’t have problems sending emails, and you can see if somebody else is trying to send emails from your domain.
Conclusion
A Managed DNS is definitely worth it! Now the only thing that is left for you is to choose the right one. There are many providers, but what I recommend you is to check in detail their offers. Some big clouds like AWS or MS Azure could get very pricy very fast!
Suggested article: Dynamic DNS (DDNS) – Why use it?