Comparison of DNS server software
Encyclopedia
This article presents a comparison of the features, platform support, and packaging of independent implementations of Domain Name System
(DNS) name server
software.
servers is an independent implementation of the DNS protocols, capable of resolving DNS names for other computers, publishing the DNS names of computers, or both. Excluded from consideration are single-feature DNS tools (such as proxies, filters, and firewalls) and redistributions of servers listed here (many products repackage BIND, for instance, with proprietary user interfaces).
DNS servers are grouped into several categories of specialization of servicing domain name system queries. The two principal roles, which may be implemented either uniquely or combined in a given product are:
BIND
BIND is the de facto standard
DNS server. It is a free software
product and is distributed with most Unix and Linux platforms, where it is most often also referred to as named (name daemon). It is the most widely deployed DNS server. Historically, BIND underwent three major revisions, each with significantly different architectures: BIND4, BIND8, and BIND9. BIND4 and BIND8 are now technically obsolete and not considered in this article. BIND9 is a ground-up rewrite of BIND featuring complete DNSSEC support in addition to other features and enhancements.
Internet Systems Consortium
has also started development of a new version, BIND 10. Its first release was in April 2010, and is expected to be a five-year project to complete its feature set. It is not included in this comparison at this time.
Dnsmasq
Dnsmasq is a lightweight, easy to configure DNS forwarder, designed to provide DNS (and optionally DHCP
and TFTP
) services to a small-scale network. It can serve the names of local machines which are not in the global DNS.
Dnsmasq accepts DNS queries and either answers them from a small, local cache or forwards them to a real, recursive DNS server. It loads the contents of /etc/hosts, so that local host names which do not appear in the global DNS can be resolved.
djbdns
Djbdns is a collection of DNS applications, including tinydns, which was the second mostly used free software
DNS server in 2004. It was designed by Daniel J. Bernstein
, author of qmail
, with an emphasis on security considerations. In March 2009, Bernstein paid $1000 to the first person finding a security hole in djbdns. The Source code
is not centrally maintained and was released into the public domain in 2007. As of March 2009, there are three forks
and more than a dozen patches
to add additional features to djbdns.
Simple DNS Plus
Simple DNS Plus is a commercial DNS server product that runs under Microsoft Windows with an emphasis on a simple-to-use GUI
.
NSD
NSD is a free software
authoritative server provided by NLNet Labs. NSD is a test-bed server for DNSSEC; new DNSSEC protocol features are often prototyped using the NSD code base. NSD hosts several top-level domain
s, and operates three of the root nameserver
s.
PowerDNS
PowerDNS is a free software
DNS server with a variety of data storage back-ends and load balancing features. Authoritative and recursive server functions are implemented as separate applications.
MaraDNS
MaraDNS is a free software
DNS server by Sam Trenholme that claims a good security history and ease of use.
In order to change any DNS records, MaraDNS needs to be restarted. Like DjbDNS dnscache, the MaraDNS 2.0 stand-alone recursive resolver Deadwood does not use threads.
, the inventor of the DNS. ANS was designed to meet the needs of top level domain servers, hosters and large enterprises.
Posadis
Posadis is a free software
DNS server, written in C++, featuring Dynamic DNS
update support.
Unbound
Unbound is a validating, recursive and caching DNS server designed for high-performance. It was released May 20, 2008 (version 1.0.0) in form of free software
software licensed under the BSD license by NLnet Labs, Verisign Inc., Nominet, and Kirei.
pdnsd
Pdnsd is a caching DNS proxy server that stores cached DNS records on disk for long term retention. Pdnsd is designed to be highly adaptable to situations where net connectivity is slow, unreliable, unavailable, or highly dynamic, with limited capability of acting as an authoritative nameserver. It is licensed under the GPL.
Cisco Network Registrar
CNR includes a commercial DNS server from Cisco Systems
usually used in conjunction with the CNR DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol
) server. It supports high rates of dynamic update.
or dialup firewalls but it is also a nice DNS cache for minor networks and workstations. Licensed under GPL
.
. The initial "g" stands for Geographic, as gdnsd offers a plugin system for geographic (or other sorts of) balancing, redirection, and service-state-conscious failover. If you don't care about that feature, you can ignore it and gdnsd still makes a great authoritative DNS server.
Another important qualifier is the server architecture. Some DNS servers provide support for both server roles in a single, "monolithic" program. Others are divided into smaller programs, each implementing a subsystem of the server. As in the classic Computer Science microkernel
debate, the importance and utility of this distinction is hotly debated. The feature matrix in this article does not discuss whether DNS features are provided in a single program or several, so long as those features are provided with the base server package and not with third-party add-on software.
Recursive
Recursion Access Control
Slave Mode
Caching
DNSSEC
TSIG
IPv6
Wildcard
Split horizon
support for the discussed DNS server, the following terms indicate the level of support:
This compilation is not exhaustive, but rather reflects the most common platforms today.
Domain name system
The Domain Name System is a hierarchical distributed naming system for computers, services, or any resource connected to the Internet or a private network. It associates various information with domain names assigned to each of the participating entities...
(DNS) name server
Name server
In computing, a name server is a program or computer server that implements a name-service protocol. It maps a human-recognizable identifier to a system-internal, often numeric, identification or addressing component....
software.
Servers compared
Each of these DNSDomain name system
The Domain Name System is a hierarchical distributed naming system for computers, services, or any resource connected to the Internet or a private network. It associates various information with domain names assigned to each of the participating entities...
servers is an independent implementation of the DNS protocols, capable of resolving DNS names for other computers, publishing the DNS names of computers, or both. Excluded from consideration are single-feature DNS tools (such as proxies, filters, and firewalls) and redistributions of servers listed here (many products repackage BIND, for instance, with proprietary user interfaces).
DNS servers are grouped into several categories of specialization of servicing domain name system queries. The two principal roles, which may be implemented either uniquely or combined in a given product are:
- Authoritative server: authoritative name servers publish DNS mappings for domains under their authoritative control. Typically, a company (e.g. "Acme Example Widgets") would provide its own authority services to respond to address queries, or for other DNS information, for www.example.int. These servers are listed as being at the top of the authority chain for their respective domains, and are capable of providing a definitive answer. Authoritative name servers can be primary name servers, also known as master servers, i.e. they contain the original set of data, or they can be secondary or slave name servers, containing data copies usually obtained from synchronization directly with the master server, either via a DNS mechanism, or by other data store synchronization mechanisms.
- Recursive Servers: recursive servers (sometimes called "DNS caches", "caching-only name servers") provide DNS name resolution for applications, by relaying the requests of the client application to the chain of authoritative name servers to fully resolve a network name. They also (typically) cache the result to answer potential future queries within a certain expiration (time-to-liveTime to liveTime to live is a mechanism that limits the lifespan of data in a computer or network. TTL may be implemented as a counter or timestamp attached to or embedded in the data. Once the prescribed event count or timespan has elapsed, data is discarded. In computer networking, TTL prevents a data...
) period. Most Internet users access a recursive server provided by their internet service provider to locate sites such as www.google.com.
BINDBINDBIND , or named , is the most widely used DNS software on the Internet.On Unix-like operating systems it is the de facto standard.Originally written by four graduate students at the Computer Systems Research Group at the University of California, Berkeley , the name originates as an acronym from...
BIND is the de facto standardDe facto standard
A de facto standard is a custom, convention, product, or system that has achieved a dominant position by public acceptance or market forces...
DNS server. It is a free software
Free software
Free software, software libre or libre software is software that can be used, studied, and modified without restriction, and which can be copied and redistributed in modified or unmodified form either without restriction, or with restrictions that only ensure that further recipients can also do...
product and is distributed with most Unix and Linux platforms, where it is most often also referred to as named (name daemon). It is the most widely deployed DNS server. Historically, BIND underwent three major revisions, each with significantly different architectures: BIND4, BIND8, and BIND9. BIND4 and BIND8 are now technically obsolete and not considered in this article. BIND9 is a ground-up rewrite of BIND featuring complete DNSSEC support in addition to other features and enhancements.
Internet Systems Consortium
Internet Systems Consortium
Internet Systems Consortium, Inc., also known as ISC, is a Delaware-registered, 501 public benefit non-profit corporation dedicated to supporting the infrastructure of the universal connected self-organizing Internet by developing and maintaining core production quality software, protocols, and...
has also started development of a new version, BIND 10. Its first release was in April 2010, and is expected to be a five-year project to complete its feature set. It is not included in this comparison at this time.
DnsmasqDnsmasqThe homepage describes dnsmasq as a lightweight, easy to configure, DNS forwarder, DHCP and TFTP server, designed to provide DNS services to a small-scale network. It can serve the names of local machines which are not in the global DNS...
Dnsmasq is a lightweight, easy to configure DNS forwarder, designed to provide DNS (and optionally DHCPDynamic Host Configuration Protocol
The Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol is a network configuration protocol for hosts on Internet Protocol networks. Computers that are connected to IP networks must be configured before they can communicate with other hosts. The most essential information needed is an IP address, and a default...
and TFTP
Trivial File Transfer Protocol
Trivial File Transfer Protocol is a file transfer protocol known for its simplicity. It is generally used forautomated transfer of configuration or boot files between machines in a local environment....
) services to a small-scale network. It can serve the names of local machines which are not in the global DNS.
Dnsmasq accepts DNS queries and either answers them from a small, local cache or forwards them to a real, recursive DNS server. It loads the contents of /etc/hosts, so that local host names which do not appear in the global DNS can be resolved.
djbdnsDjbdnsThe djbdns software package is a DNS implementation created by Daniel J. Bernstein due to his frustrations with repeated BIND security holes. A $1000 prize for the first person to find a privilege escalation security hole in djbdns was awarded in March 2009 to Matthew Dempsky., djbdns's tinydns...
Djbdns is a collection of DNS applications, including tinydns, which was the second mostly used free softwareFree software
Free software, software libre or libre software is software that can be used, studied, and modified without restriction, and which can be copied and redistributed in modified or unmodified form either without restriction, or with restrictions that only ensure that further recipients can also do...
DNS server in 2004. It was designed by Daniel J. Bernstein
Daniel J. Bernstein
Daniel Julius Bernstein is a mathematician, cryptologist, programmer, and professor of mathematics at the University of Illinois at Chicago...
, author of qmail
Qmail
qmail is a mail transfer agent that runs on Unix. It was written, starting December 1995, by Daniel J. Bernstein as a more secure replacement for the popular Sendmail program...
, with an emphasis on security considerations. In March 2009, Bernstein paid $1000 to the first person finding a security hole in djbdns. The Source code
Source code
In computer science, source code is text written using the format and syntax of the programming language that it is being written in. Such a language is specially designed to facilitate the work of computer programmers, who specify the actions to be performed by a computer mostly by writing source...
is not centrally maintained and was released into the public domain in 2007. As of March 2009, there are three forks
Fork (software development)
In software engineering, a project fork happens when developers take a legal copy of source code from one software package and start independent development on it, creating a distinct piece of software...
and more than a dozen patches
Patch (computing)
A patch is a piece of software designed to fix problems with, or update a computer program or its supporting data. This includes fixing security vulnerabilities and other bugs, and improving the usability or performance...
to add additional features to djbdns.
Simple DNS PlusSimple DNS Plus-Overview:Simple DNS Plus is a DNS server software product that runs on x86 and x64 editions of Windows operating system.All options and settings are available directly from a Windows user interface....
Simple DNS Plus is a commercial DNS server product that runs under Microsoft Windows with an emphasis on a simple-to-use GUIGui
Gui or guee is a generic term to refer to grilled dishes in Korean cuisine. These most commonly have meat or fish as their primary ingredient, but may in some cases also comprise grilled vegetables or other vegetarian ingredients. The term derives from the verb, "gupda" in Korean, which literally...
.
NSDNSDIn Internet computing, NSD is an open-source server program for the Domain Name System. It was developed by NLnet Labs of Amsterdam in cooperation with the RIPE NCC, from scratch as an authoritative name server...
NSD is a free softwareFree software
Free software, software libre or libre software is software that can be used, studied, and modified without restriction, and which can be copied and redistributed in modified or unmodified form either without restriction, or with restrictions that only ensure that further recipients can also do...
authoritative server provided by NLNet Labs. NSD is a test-bed server for DNSSEC; new DNSSEC protocol features are often prototyped using the NSD code base. NSD hosts several top-level domain
Top-level domain
A top-level domain is one of the domains at the highest level in the hierarchical Domain Name System of the Internet. The top-level domain names are installed in the root zone of the name space. For all domains in lower levels, it is the last part of the domain name, that is, the last label of a...
s, and operates three of the root nameserver
Root nameserver
A root name server is a name server for the Domain Name System's root zone. It directly answers requests for records in the root zone and answers other requests returning a list of the designated authoritative name servers for the appropriate top-level domain...
s.
PowerDNSPowerDNSPowerDNS is a DNS server, written in C++ and licensed under the GPL. It runs on most Unix derivatives and on Microsoft Windows. PowerDNS features a large number of different backends ranging from simple BIND style zonefiles to relational databases and load balancing/failover algorithms...
PowerDNS is a free softwareFree software
Free software, software libre or libre software is software that can be used, studied, and modified without restriction, and which can be copied and redistributed in modified or unmodified form either without restriction, or with restrictions that only ensure that further recipients can also do...
DNS server with a variety of data storage back-ends and load balancing features. Authoritative and recursive server functions are implemented as separate applications.
MaraDNSMaraDNSMaraDNS is a security-aware Domain Name System implementation. Along with BIND, NSD, djbdns, and PowerDNS, it is one of a small number of DNS servers with published source code...
MaraDNS is a free softwareFree software
Free software, software libre or libre software is software that can be used, studied, and modified without restriction, and which can be copied and redistributed in modified or unmodified form either without restriction, or with restrictions that only ensure that further recipients can also do...
DNS server by Sam Trenholme that claims a good security history and ease of use.
In order to change any DNS records, MaraDNS needs to be restarted. Like DjbDNS dnscache, the MaraDNS 2.0 stand-alone recursive resolver Deadwood does not use threads.
Nominum ANS
ANS is a commercial authoritative server from Nominum, a company founded by Paul MockapetrisPaul Mockapetris
Dr. Paul V. Mockapetris is the inventor of the Domain Name System.In 1983, he proposed a Domain Name System architecture in RFCs 882 and 883 while at the Information Sciences Institute of the University of Southern California....
, the inventor of the DNS. ANS was designed to meet the needs of top level domain servers, hosters and large enterprises.
Nominum Vantio
Vantio is a commercial high-performance recursive caching server from Nominum, intended as a fast, secure alternative to BIND for service providers, enterprises, and government agencies. PosadisPosadisIn computing, Posadis is a GPL-licensed DNS server for Microsoft Windows and Unix that uses a zone file format that is compatible with BIND zone files. Posadis is part of a suite which includes graphical configuration and zone file management programs....
Posadis is a free softwareFree software
Free software, software libre or libre software is software that can be used, studied, and modified without restriction, and which can be copied and redistributed in modified or unmodified form either without restriction, or with restrictions that only ensure that further recipients can also do...
DNS server, written in C++, featuring Dynamic DNS
Dynamic DNS
Dynamic DNS or DDNS is a term used for the updating in real time of Internet Domain Name System name servers to keep up to date the active DNS configuration of their configured hostnames, addresses and other information....
update support.
UnboundUnbound (DNS Server)Unbound is a validating, recursive, and caching DNS server software product from NLnet Labs, VeriSign Inc., Nominet, and . It is distributed free of charge in open source form under the BSD license....
Unbound is a validating, recursive and caching DNS server designed for high-performance. It was released May 20, 2008 (version 1.0.0) in form of free softwareFree software
Free software, software libre or libre software is software that can be used, studied, and modified without restriction, and which can be copied and redistributed in modified or unmodified form either without restriction, or with restrictions that only ensure that further recipients can also do...
software licensed under the BSD license by NLnet Labs, Verisign Inc., Nominet, and Kirei.
pdnsdPdnsdpdnsd is a caching DNS proxy server created originally by Thomas Moestl and currently maintained by Paul Rombouts.pdnsd is configurable by a config file or using the program pdns-ctl that comes with the package. Unlike BIND, pdnsd stores cached DNS records on disk for long term retention and will...
Pdnsd is a caching DNS proxy server that stores cached DNS records on disk for long term retention. Pdnsd is designed to be highly adaptable to situations where net connectivity is slow, unreliable, unavailable, or highly dynamic, with limited capability of acting as an authoritative nameserver. It is licensed under the GPL. Cisco Network RegistrarCisco Network RegistrarThe Cisco Network Registrar is a Cisco software product that includes components for Domain Name System services, Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol services, Trivial File Transfer Protocol services, and Simple Network Management Protocol functions...
CNR includes a commercial DNS server from Cisco SystemsCisco Systems
Cisco Systems, Inc. is an American multinational corporation headquartered in San Jose, California, United States, that designs and sells consumer electronics, networking, voice, and communications technology and services. Cisco has more than 70,000 employees and annual revenue of US$...
usually used in conjunction with the CNR DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol
Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol
The Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol is a network configuration protocol for hosts on Internet Protocol networks. Computers that are connected to IP networks must be configured before they can communicate with other hosts. The most essential information needed is an IP address, and a default...
) server. It supports high rates of dynamic update.
Domain Name Relay Daemon (dnrd)
Domain Name Relay Daemonhttp://dnrd.sourceforge.net/ is a caching, forwarding DNS proxy server. Most useful on vpnVirtual private network
A virtual private network is a network that uses primarily public telecommunication infrastructure, such as the Internet, to provide remote offices or traveling users access to a central organizational network....
or dialup firewalls but it is also a nice DNS cache for minor networks and workstations. Licensed under GPL
GNU General Public License
The GNU General Public License is the most widely used free software license, originally written by Richard Stallman for the GNU Project....
.
Geographic DNS daemon (gdnsd)
Geographic DNS daemon (gdnsd)http://code.google.com/p/gdnsd/ is a GPL3-licensed Authoritative DNS server written in C using libevhttp://software.schmorp.de/pkg/libev.html and pthreads with a focus on high performance, low latency service. It does not offer any form of caching or recursive service, and does not support DNSSECDNSSEC
The Domain Name System Security Extensions is a suite of Internet Engineering Task Force specifications for securing certain kinds of information provided by the Domain Name System as used on Internet Protocol networks...
. The initial "g" stands for Geographic, as gdnsd offers a plugin system for geographic (or other sorts of) balancing, redirection, and service-state-conscious failover. If you don't care about that feature, you can ignore it and gdnsd still makes a great authoritative DNS server.
Features
Some DNS features are relevant only to recursive servers, or to authoritative servers. As a result, a feature matrix such as the one in this article cannot by itself represent the effectiveness or maturity of a given implementation.Another important qualifier is the server architecture. Some DNS servers provide support for both server roles in a single, "monolithic" program. Others are divided into smaller programs, each implementing a subsystem of the server. As in the classic Computer Science microkernel
Microkernel
In computer science, a microkernel is the near-minimum amount of software that can provide the mechanisms needed to implement an operating system . These mechanisms include low-level address space management, thread management, and inter-process communication...
debate, the importance and utility of this distinction is hotly debated. The feature matrix in this article does not discuss whether DNS features are provided in a single program or several, so long as those features are provided with the base server package and not with third-party add-on software.
Explanation of features
Authoritative- A major category of DNS server functionality, see above.
Recursive
- A major category of DNS server functionality, see above.
Recursion Access Control
- Servers with this feature provide control over which hosts are permitted DNS recursive lookups. This is useful for load balancing and service protection.
Slave Mode
- Authoritative servers can publish content that originates from primary data storage (such as zone files or databases connected to business administration processes)--such servers are also called 'master' servers--or can be slave or secondary servers, republishing content fetched from and synchronized with such master servers. Servers with a "slave mode" feature have a built-in capability to retrieve and republish content from other servers. This is typically, though not always, provided using the AXFR DNS protocol.
Caching
- Servers with this feature provide recursive services for applications, and cache the results so that future requests for the same name can be answered quickly, without a full DNS lookup. This is an important performance feature, as it significantly reduces the latency of DNS requests.
DNSSEC
- Servers with this feature implement some variant of the DNSSEC protocols. They may publish names with resource record signatures (providing a "secure authority service"), and may validate those signatures during recursive lookups (providing a "secure resolver"). DNSSEC is becoming more widespread as the deployment of a DNSSEC root key has been done by ICANN. Deployment to individual sites is growing as top level domains start to deploy DNSSEC too. The presence of DNSSEC features is a notable characteristic of a DNS server.
TSIG
- Servers with this feature typically provide DNSSEC services. In addition, they support the TSIGTSIGTSIG is a computer networking protocol definedin RFC 2845. It is used primarily by the Domain Name System to provide a means of authenticating updates to a Dynamic DNS database, although it can also be used between servers and for regular queries...
protocol, which allows DNS clients to establish a secure session with the server to publish Dynamic DNSDynamic DNSDynamic DNS or DDNS is a term used for the updating in real time of Internet Domain Name System name servers to keep up to date the active DNS configuration of their configured hostnames, addresses and other information....
records or to request secure DNS lookups without incurring the cost and complexity of full DNSSEC support.
IPv6
- Servers with this feature are capable of publishing or handling DNS records that refer to IPv6IPv6Internet Protocol version 6 is a version of the Internet Protocol . It is designed to succeed the Internet Protocol version 4...
addresses. In addition to be fully IPv6 capable they must implement IPv6 transport protocol for queries and zone transfers in slave/master relationships and forwarder functions.
Wildcard
- Servers with this feature can publish information for wildcard recordsWildcard DNS recordA wildcard DNS record is a record in a DNS zone that will match requests for non-existent domain names. A wildcard DNS record is specified by using a "*" as the leftmost label of a domain name, e.g. *.example.com. The exact rules for when a wild card will match are specified in RFC 1034, but the...
, which provide data about DNS names in DNS zones that are not specifically listed in the zone.
Split horizon
- Servers with the split-horizon DNSSplit-horizon DNSIn computer networking, split-horizon DNS, split-view DNS, or split-brain DNS is the facility of a Domain Name System implementation to provide different sets of DNS information, selected by, usually, the source address of the DNS request....
feature can give different answers depending on the source IP address of the query.
Feature matrix
| Server | Authoritative | Recursive | Recursion ACL Access control list An access control list , with respect to a computer file system, is a list of permissions attached to an object. An ACL specifies which users or system processes are granted access to objects, as well as what operations are allowed on given objects. Each entry in a typical ACL specifies a subject... |
Slave mode | Caching | DNSSEC | TSIG TSIG TSIG is a computer networking protocol definedin RFC 2845. It is used primarily by the Domain Name System to provide a means of authenticating updates to a Dynamic DNS database, although it can also be used between servers and for regular queries... |
IPv6 IPv6 Internet Protocol version 6 is a version of the Internet Protocol . It is designed to succeed the Internet Protocol version 4... |
Wildcard | Free Software | Interface | split horizon Split-horizon DNS In computer networking, split-horizon DNS, split-view DNS, or split-brain DNS is the facility of a Domain Name System implementation to provide different sets of DNS information, selected by, usually, the source address of the DNS request.... |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BIND BIND BIND , or named , is the most widely used DNS software on the Internet.On Unix-like operating systems it is the de facto standard.Originally written by four graduate students at the Computer Systems Research Group at the University of California, Berkeley , the name originates as an acronym from... |
(since 9.x) | (since 4.x) | Web, command line | |||||||||
| Microsoft DNS Microsoft DNS Microsoft DNS is the name given to the implementation of domain name system services provided in Microsoft Windows operating systems.- Overview :... |
GUI, command line, API, WMI Windows Management Instrumentation Windows Management Instrumentation is a set of extensions to the Windows Driver Model that provides an operating system interface through which instrumented components provide information and notification... , RPC MSRPC Microsoft RPC is a modified version of DCE/RPC. Additions include support for Unicode strings, implicit handles, inheritance of interfaces , and complex calculations in the variable-length string and structure paradigms already present in DCE/RPC.- Example :The DCE 1.0 reference implementation... |
|||||||||||
| djbdns Djbdns The djbdns software package is a DNS implementation created by Daniel J. Bernstein due to his frustrations with repeated BIND security holes. A $1000 prize for the first person to find a privilege escalation security hole in djbdns was awarded in March 2009 to Matthew Dempsky., djbdns's tinydns... |
via generic records. http://www.fefe.de/dns/ | command line and web (VegaDNS & NicTool) | ||||||||||
| Dnsmasq Dnsmasq The homepage describes dnsmasq as a lightweight, easy to configure, DNS forwarder, DHCP and TFTP server, designed to provide DNS services to a small-scale network. It can serve the names of local machines which are not in the global DNS... |
command line | |||||||||||
| Simple DNS Plus Simple DNS Plus -Overview:Simple DNS Plus is a DNS server software product that runs on x86 and x64 editions of Windows operating system.All options and settings are available directly from a Windows user interface.... |
GUI, Web, command line | |||||||||||
| NSD NSD In Internet computing, NSD is an open-source server program for the Domain Name System. It was developed by NLnet Labs of Amsterdam in cooperation with the RIPE NCC, from scratch as an authoritative name server... |
command line | |||||||||||
| PowerDNS PowerDNS PowerDNS is a DNS server, written in C++ and licensed under the GPL. It runs on most Unix derivatives and on Microsoft Windows. PowerDNS features a large number of different backends ranging from simple BIND style zonefiles to relational databases and load balancing/failover algorithms... |
(since 3.0) | (since 3.0) | Web, command line | |||||||||
| MaraDNS MaraDNS MaraDNS is a security-aware Domain Name System implementation. Along with BIND, NSD, djbdns, and PowerDNS, it is one of a small number of DNS servers with published source code... |
command line | |||||||||||
| Nominum ANS | command line, api, SOAP Interface, SNMP | |||||||||||
| Nominum Vantio | command line, api, SOAP Interface, SNMP | |||||||||||
| Posadis Posadis In computing, Posadis is a GPL-licensed DNS server for Microsoft Windows and Unix that uses a zone file format that is compatible with BIND zone files. Posadis is part of a suite which includes graphical configuration and zone file management programs.... |
command line, API | |||||||||||
| Unbound Unbound (DNS Server) Unbound is a validating, recursive, and caching DNS server software product from NLnet Labs, VeriSign Inc., Nominet, and . It is distributed free of charge in open source form under the BSD license.... |
command line, API | |||||||||||
| pdnsd Pdnsd pdnsd is a caching DNS proxy server created originally by Thomas Moestl and currently maintained by Paul Rombouts.pdnsd is configurable by a config file or using the program pdns-ctl that comes with the package. Unlike BIND, pdnsd stores cached DNS records on disk for long term retention and will... |
command line | |||||||||||
| dnrd | command line | |||||||||||
| gdnsd | command line |
Platforms
In this overview of operating systemOperating system
An operating system is a set of programs that manage computer hardware resources and provide common services for application software. The operating system is the most important type of system software in a computer system...
support for the discussed DNS server, the following terms indicate the level of support:
- No indicates that it does not exist or was never released.
- Partial indicates that while it works, the server lacks important functionality compared to versions for other OSs; it is still being developed however.
- Beta indicates that while a version is fully functional and has been released, it is still in development (e.g. for stability).
- Yes indicates that it has been officially released in a fully functional, stable version.
- Included indicates that the server comes pre-packaged with or has been integrated into the operating system.
This compilation is not exhaustive, but rather reflects the most common platforms today.
| Server | BSD Berkeley Software Distribution Berkeley Software Distribution is a Unix operating system derivative developed and distributed by the Computer Systems Research Group of the University of California, Berkeley, from 1977 to 1995... |
Solaris | Linux Linux Linux is a Unix-like computer operating system assembled under the model of free and open source software development and distribution. The defining component of any Linux system is the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released October 5, 1991 by Linus Torvalds... |
Mac OS X Mac OS X Mac OS X is a series of Unix-based operating systems and graphical user interfaces developed, marketed, and sold by Apple Inc. Since 2002, has been included with all new Macintosh computer systems... |
Windows Microsoft Windows Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal... |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BIND BIND BIND , or named , is the most widely used DNS software on the Internet.On Unix-like operating systems it is the de facto standard.Originally written by four graduate students at the Computer Systems Research Group at the University of California, Berkeley , the name originates as an acronym from... |
|||||
| Microsoft DNS Microsoft DNS Microsoft DNS is the name given to the implementation of domain name system services provided in Microsoft Windows operating systems.- Overview :... |
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| djbdns Djbdns The djbdns software package is a DNS implementation created by Daniel J. Bernstein due to his frustrations with repeated BIND security holes. A $1000 prize for the first person to find a privilege escalation security hole in djbdns was awarded in March 2009 to Matthew Dempsky., djbdns's tinydns... |
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| Dnsmasq Dnsmasq The homepage describes dnsmasq as a lightweight, easy to configure, DNS forwarder, DHCP and TFTP server, designed to provide DNS services to a small-scale network. It can serve the names of local machines which are not in the global DNS... |
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| Simple DNS Plus Simple DNS Plus -Overview:Simple DNS Plus is a DNS server software product that runs on x86 and x64 editions of Windows operating system.All options and settings are available directly from a Windows user interface.... |
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| NSD NSD In Internet computing, NSD is an open-source server program for the Domain Name System. It was developed by NLnet Labs of Amsterdam in cooperation with the RIPE NCC, from scratch as an authoritative name server... |
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| PowerDNS PowerDNS PowerDNS is a DNS server, written in C++ and licensed under the GPL. It runs on most Unix derivatives and on Microsoft Windows. PowerDNS features a large number of different backends ranging from simple BIND style zonefiles to relational databases and load balancing/failover algorithms... |
http://www.solaris4you.dk/dnsservSS.html | ||||
| MaraDNS MaraDNS MaraDNS is a security-aware Domain Name System implementation. Along with BIND, NSD, djbdns, and PowerDNS, it is one of a small number of DNS servers with published source code... |
http://www.solaris4you.dk/dnsservSS.html | ||||
| Nominum ANS | |||||
| Nominum Vantio | |||||
| Posadis Posadis In computing, Posadis is a GPL-licensed DNS server for Microsoft Windows and Unix that uses a zone file format that is compatible with BIND zone files. Posadis is part of a suite which includes graphical configuration and zone file management programs.... |
http://posadis.sourceforge.net/ | ||||
| Unbound Unbound (DNS Server) Unbound is a validating, recursive, and caching DNS server software product from NLnet Labs, VeriSign Inc., Nominet, and . It is distributed free of charge in open source form under the BSD license.... |
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| Cisco Network Registrar Cisco Network Registrar The Cisco Network Registrar is a Cisco software product that includes components for Domain Name System services, Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol services, Trivial File Transfer Protocol services, and Simple Network Management Protocol functions... |
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| gdnsd |
Packaging
| Server | Creator | Cost (USD United States dollar The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies.... ) |
Public source code | Software license |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BIND BIND BIND , or named , is the most widely used DNS software on the Internet.On Unix-like operating systems it is the de facto standard.Originally written by four graduate students at the Computer Systems Research Group at the University of California, Berkeley , the name originates as an acronym from... |
Internet Systems Consortium Internet Systems Consortium Internet Systems Consortium, Inc., also known as ISC, is a Delaware-registered, 501 public benefit non-profit corporation dedicated to supporting the infrastructure of the universal connected self-organizing Internet by developing and maintaining core production quality software, protocols, and... |
Free | BSD | |
| Microsoft DNS Microsoft DNS Microsoft DNS is the name given to the implementation of domain name system services provided in Microsoft Windows operating systems.- Overview :... |
Microsoft Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions... |
Included with Windows Server Windows Server Windows Server is a brand name for a group of server operating systems released by Microsoft Corporation. All are part of Microsoft Servers.- Members :This brand includes the following software:* Windows 2000 Server* Windows Server 2003... |
Clickwrap license Clickwrap A clickwrap agreement is a common type of agreement often used in connection with software licenses. Such forms of agreement are mostly found on the Internet, as part of the installation process of many software packages, or in other circumstances where agreement is sought using electronic media... |
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| djbdns Djbdns The djbdns software package is a DNS implementation created by Daniel J. Bernstein due to his frustrations with repeated BIND security holes. A $1000 prize for the first person to find a privilege escalation security hole in djbdns was awarded in March 2009 to Matthew Dempsky., djbdns's tinydns... |
Daniel J. Bernstein Daniel J. Bernstein Daniel Julius Bernstein is a mathematician, cryptologist, programmer, and professor of mathematics at the University of Illinois at Chicago... |
Free | Public domain Public domain Works are in the public domain if the intellectual property rights have expired, if the intellectual property rights are forfeited, or if they are not covered by intellectual property rights at all... |
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| Dnsmasq Dnsmasq The homepage describes dnsmasq as a lightweight, easy to configure, DNS forwarder, DHCP and TFTP server, designed to provide DNS services to a small-scale network. It can serve the names of local machines which are not in the global DNS... |
Simon Kelley | Free | GPL GNU General Public License The GNU General Public License is the most widely used free software license, originally written by Richard Stallman for the GNU Project.... |
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| Simple DNS Plus Simple DNS Plus -Overview:Simple DNS Plus is a DNS server software product that runs on x86 and x64 editions of Windows operating system.All options and settings are available directly from a Windows user interface.... |
JH Software | $79 – $379 | Clickwrap license Clickwrap A clickwrap agreement is a common type of agreement often used in connection with software licenses. Such forms of agreement are mostly found on the Internet, as part of the installation process of many software packages, or in other circumstances where agreement is sought using electronic media... |
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| NSD NSD In Internet computing, NSD is an open-source server program for the Domain Name System. It was developed by NLnet Labs of Amsterdam in cooperation with the RIPE NCC, from scratch as an authoritative name server... |
NLnet Labs | Free | BSD BSD licenses BSD licenses are a family of permissive free software licenses. The original license was used for the Berkeley Software Distribution , a Unix-like operating system after which it is named.... variant |
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| PowerDNS PowerDNS PowerDNS is a DNS server, written in C++ and licensed under the GPL. It runs on most Unix derivatives and on Microsoft Windows. PowerDNS features a large number of different backends ranging from simple BIND style zonefiles to relational databases and load balancing/failover algorithms... |
PowerDNS.COM BV / Bert Hubert Bert Hubert Bert Hubert is a Dutch open source software developer. He is best known for being the principal author of the popular open source DNS server suite PowerDNS... |
Free | GPL GNU General Public License The GNU General Public License is the most widely used free software license, originally written by Richard Stallman for the GNU Project.... |
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| MaraDNS MaraDNS MaraDNS is a security-aware Domain Name System implementation. Along with BIND, NSD, djbdns, and PowerDNS, it is one of a small number of DNS servers with published source code... |
Sam Trenholme | Free | BSD BSD licenses BSD licenses are a family of permissive free software licenses. The original license was used for the Berkeley Software Distribution , a Unix-like operating system after which it is named.... variant |
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| Nominum ANS | Nominum | Unpublished price | Clickwrap license Clickwrap A clickwrap agreement is a common type of agreement often used in connection with software licenses. Such forms of agreement are mostly found on the Internet, as part of the installation process of many software packages, or in other circumstances where agreement is sought using electronic media... |
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| Nominum Vantio | Nominum | Unpublished price | Clickwrap license Clickwrap A clickwrap agreement is a common type of agreement often used in connection with software licenses. Such forms of agreement are mostly found on the Internet, as part of the installation process of many software packages, or in other circumstances where agreement is sought using electronic media... |
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| Posadis Posadis In computing, Posadis is a GPL-licensed DNS server for Microsoft Windows and Unix that uses a zone file format that is compatible with BIND zone files. Posadis is part of a suite which includes graphical configuration and zone file management programs.... |
Meilof Veeningen | Free | GPL GNU General Public License The GNU General Public License is the most widely used free software license, originally written by Richard Stallman for the GNU Project.... |
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| Unbound Unbound (DNS Server) Unbound is a validating, recursive, and caching DNS server software product from NLnet Labs, VeriSign Inc., Nominet, and . It is distributed free of charge in open source form under the BSD license.... |
NLnet Labs | Free | BSD |