Dns
Homelab DNS Troubleshooting
DNS failures are deceptive. Everything looks broken - and most issues are straightforward once you know where to look. Every issue here is something I’ve run into personally. Continue reading ...
DNS and HTTPS in the Homelab: Moving Beyond IP Addresses
At some point, every Homelab runs into “IP address fatigue.” You start with a couple of services, and your bookmarks suddenly become a chaotic mess of IP addresses and ports that correspond to each service running. Continue reading ...
Homelab DNS: Running BIND with Docker
Getting BIND running in Docker takes minutes. Running it correctly takes a bit more. BIND is widely used and does one thing well; it provides domain name resolution services. It’s straightforward, easy to manage, and how I run BIND on my home network. By the time you’re done walking through the steps in this post, you’ll have multiple BIND servers answering for local domains and providing DNS resolution services on your network. Continue reading ...
Designing Your Homelab DNS
Now that we’ve covered the theoretical intersection of DNS and HTTPS and the benefits that come from each, it’s time to plan a solid DNS strategy. Before you go spinning up containers or editing configuration files, you need a design. Continue reading ...
Understanding DNS Records
A DNS zone is a text file containing a series of Resource Records, each following a standard format: [Name] [TTL] [Class] [Type] [Value] Continue reading ...
The Anatomy of DNS Zones: Roles and Functions
It’s helpful to divide DNS zones into two categories to properly understand them. The first category describes how the data is managed and replicated – the administrative role. The second category describes the direction of the lookup, or the functional role. To a DNS server, a zone is not “a domain” - it’s a boundary of authority. Continue reading ...
DNSSEC and DNS’ Fundamental Flaw
Before diving into DNSSEC (Domain Name System Security Extensions,) let’s cover the fundamental flaw in the original design of DNS: trust. DNS was built on trust, not security. DNSSEC does not encrypt DNS - it verifies it. Continue reading ...
Who Manages DNS for the Internet?
DNS is at the core of the Internet and there’s no question that it’s a service we all depend on – so who is in charge of keeping it running smoothly? Let’s work our way through the hierarchy described in my previous post to cover who’s responsible and what’s changed over the past few decades. Continue reading ...
The Origin and Evolution of DNS, the Domain Name System
To understand the Domain Name System, you need to first understand that computers are fundamentally incapable of understanding “names.” They understand numbers – specifically the binary representations of IP addresses. Continue reading ...
DNS in the Homelab
Back in March, I wrote about my DNS setup after rebuilding my BIND environment in Docker. It brought back a mix of solid lessons and a few painful ones - and I didn’t expect the flood of questions that followed. Continue reading ...