Question 1

What is DNS monitoring?

Accepted Answer

DNS Monitoring is the process of tracking the performance, availability, and accuracy of your Domain Name System (DNS). DNS is the system that translates human-readable domain names into IP addresses which computers use to locate and communicate with each other. If your DNS is down or experiencing issues, users may not be able to access your website or services which could lead to potential downtime, lost revenue, and a negative user experience.

Overall, DNS monitoring provides consistent connectivity to your websites and servers, saving you time when diagnosing DNS issues. DNS monitoring ultimately ensures your critical services are always up and running.

Question 2

Why is DNS monitoring important?

Accepted Answer

DNS monitoring is critical because it ensures that internet-based applications and services operate efficiently and securely. This ongoing monitoring is essential for network operations (NetOps) professionals who strive to maintain high availability, enhance overall user experience, safeguard against potential cybersecurity threats, and facilitate strategic infrastructure planning. The importance of DNS monitoring spans several key areas:

Ensuring Uptime and Availability: DNS issues can cause significant disruptions, leading to downtime or inaccessible websites and services. Continuous monitoring of DNS ensures that servers are functioning correctly and responding as expected, minimizing the risk of disruptions that could affect users and business operations.
Performance Optimization: DNS resolution times are crucial for the smooth operation of online services; even minimal delays can degrade user experience significantly. Regular monitoring helps identify and rectify issues with slow or underperforming DNS servers, thereby improving the speed and reliability of website access.
Security Enhancements: The DNS infrastructure is a common target for various cyber threats such as DNS spoofing, distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks, and cache poisoning. By actively monitoring DNS traffic and patterns, these threats can be identified early, allowing for timely intervention to mitigate potential security breaches and protect sensitive data.
Error Detection and Resolution: Incorrectly configured DNS records are a common issue that can lead to traffic misrouting or services becoming unavailable. Regular DNS monitoring allows for the early detection of such configuration errors and other anomalies, making it possible to correct these issues before they impact service availability and user trust.
Regulatory Compliance and Auditing: Maintaining a secure and robust DNS infrastructure for organizations in regulated industries is not just best practice but a regulatory requirement. DNS monitoring aids in compliance by providing audit trails and evidence of due diligence in network management and security protocols.
Insights and Analytics: Beyond troubleshooting and security, DNS monitoring can offer insights into user behavior, geographic distribution of traffic, and overall network efficiency. These analytics are invaluable for making informed decisions about service improvements, marketing strategies, and customer engagement.
DNS monitoring is a cornerstone of modern NetOps, indispensable for ensuring that internet-based services are reliable, fast, and secure. By investing in comprehensive DNS monitoring tools and practices, organizations can significantly enhance their operational resilience and strategic planning capabilities.

Question 3

How does DNS monitoring work?

Accepted Answer

You can find DNS monitoring as a part of cloud dns monitoring service. It works by regularly checking if the DNS server responds to all DNS queries. With such type of check, you can initiate DNS queries for a desired hostname and query type – A (for IPv4), AAAA (for IPv6), MX, NS, PTR, or CNAME. There are two scenarios that follow once you set your expected response. The check is marked UP, when the received response is equal to the required expected one. The check is marked DOWN, when the received response is not equal to the required expected one. The DNS monitoring check validates the conditions of DNS servers by sending a DNS request and comparing the received response with the expected one.

Question 4

How do I troubleshoot DNS errors (timeouts, codes, etc.)?

Accepted Answer

To troubleshoot a DNS error, start by reviewing the error details for each server node in the DNS tree. If DNS errors are frequent, consider setting up a separate DNS task with “Verify Response On” set to “First Responding” and monitor the domain’s resolution regularly.

Also, you should investigate areas like network devices, browsers, DNS records, your service provider, and potential latency issues. It’s helpful to have a troubleshooting checklist, starting with the easiest items to review, like network devices, before moving on to more complex issues, such as misconfigured DNS records or latency problems.

Refer to our wiki, to get more information on how to fix DNS errors step-by-step.

Question 5

Should I be monitoring my DNSSEC chain of trust?

Accepted Answer

The short answer to this is: yes. DNSSEC is a suite of extensions that improve Domain Name System (DNS) security by verifying that DNS results have not been tampered with. Enterprises can use DNSSEC to prevent attacks related to DNS spoofing, DNS cache poisoning, etc.

When DNS was developed, security was not a top priority. Because of this, when sending a request to an authoritative DNS server, the resolver cannot verify the authenticity of the response sent by name servers to clients. The resolver is only able to check if the response comes from the same IP address to which the original request was sent. DNSSEC helps verify the authenticity of DNS responses through digital signatures for DNS records. You can learn more about DNSSEC validation in this knowledgebase article.

Question 6

What happens when DNS monitoring detects an issue?

Accepted Answer

DNS monitoring can be useful for detecting outages faster by providing real-time visibility into the DNS infrastructure. DNS Monitoring can detect errors like incorrect IP addresses and assure that outages are not prolonged. The less time your website or service is down, the less your traffic flow is interrupted. It can alert tech teams about issues, such as DNS server failures or network connectivity problems, as soon as they occur. That way, IT teams can quickly identify the root cause of the problem and take action to restore services.

Question 7

Why use a DNS monitoring tool?

Accepted Answer

A DNS Monitoring Tool is a tool that automates the process of tracking your DNS performance and instantly alerts you of any issues so that you can resolve them before they affect your users. It ensures that your website remains accessible, your services are reliable, and your brand’s reputation stays intact.

Question 8

How to monitor DNS server?

Accepted Answer

To monitor a DNS server, use a DNS monitoring tool like Dotcom-Monitor that regularly checks DNS records, response times, and query success rates. These tools provide real-time alerts and reports which ensure that any issues are promptly identified and addressed.

Question 9

What types of DNS queries can be monitored?

Accepted Answer

Here are some types of DNS queries that can be monitored:

IP addresses: Compare the IP address received from the system to the IP addresses you provide
SOA records: Monitor the serial number, which is updated when a change occurs
MX and SRV records: Monitor these records to prevent loss of communication pathways
NS records and root servers: Test NS records to ensure no one has tampered with the primary and backup nameserver records
A records: Map a website’s domain or subdomain to an IPv4 address
CERT records: Verify the authenticity of a site and deliver encrypted data
CNAME records: Provide an alias that allows users to use title variations that direct them to the same part of a website

DNS monitoring can help with:

Diagnosing issues
Preventing targeted attacks
Identifying security breaches
Avoiding unplanned downtime
Protecting users’ private information
Protecting revenue
Protecting brand reputation

DNS Monitoring

全局监控 DNS

DNS 监控：跟踪重要性能指标

通过实时洞察和指标，保持领先并优化网络

主动 DNS 监控：确保传播链健康

通过实时 DNS 健康快照体验无缝在线性能

安全和同步检查：高级 DNS 监控，实现最高安全性

通过先进的检查功能解锁卓越的 DNS 安全性，确保您的数据安全

强大的功能

主要 DNS 监控功能

深受全球企业信赖

DNS 专家监控。为各种规模的企业提供动力和精度。

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DNS 监控-常见问题