Honestly, I guess it's a fine article for someone who isn't very technical, but it provides very little real detail, and this wasn't an example of DNS breaking anything - it worked as designed.
The biggest pain of DNS for most people is if someone has set the TTL to an absurdly large number, or if a resolver isn't respecting TTL. And once you get into advanced configurations, SOAs and delegation certainly create their own headaches!
pastage 1 hours ago [-]
> DNS broke my site for three hours. But now I actually understand it
I have been broken for three decades and I still don't understand DNS. It is a simple protocol but people use it in complicated manners.
stevekemp 2 hours ago [-]
Only oddity was the reference to the "router cache". I agree if your browser tried to lookup example.com the local cache would be used, but then it would be the system's configured DNS server - and that would most likely be an ISP, rather than your local router.
(Assuming a typical home connection, your router is _probably_ not a DNS server with local cache, it probably is a DHCP server which will hand out the upstream/ISPs' nameservers.)
jdsnape 2 hours ago [-]
I think this is probably quite dependent on what’s normal for ISPs in the region. In the UK for example, every ISP router I’ve had runs a DNS server and it’s that which is given out via DHCP. It then forwards onto the ISPs DNS platform.
RegnisGnaw 26 minutes ago [-]
My parents are with Bell (the biggest ISP in Canada) and use the Bell Gigahub (Router/AP/Switch in one). It does have a DNS cache and the its set as the DNS resolver in their DHCP configuration.
direwolf20 1 hours ago [-]
The system's configured DNS resolver is usually your router.
synthBirba 3 days ago [-]
Well written! Is so easy to understand and read that I can easily share it even with non-tech people c:
okchildhood 3 days ago [-]
Appreciate it! That's the goal - tech concepts shouldn't need a CS degree to understand.
biglyburrito 3 days ago [-]
This might be the easiest-to-understand breakdown of DNS that I've seen to date. I've owned a domain since the late 90s, but never really understood everything the acronyms or concepts involved in making it work. Well done!
okchildhood 3 days ago [-]
Thanks! That was exactly what I was going for - making DNS approachable for everyone, not just sysadmins. Glad it helped!
giuliomagnifico 3 days ago [-]
Well written article!
okchildhood 3 days ago [-]
Glad you liked it. Thank you
Rendered at 14:27:50 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time) with Vercel.
The biggest pain of DNS for most people is if someone has set the TTL to an absurdly large number, or if a resolver isn't respecting TTL. And once you get into advanced configurations, SOAs and delegation certainly create their own headaches!
I have been broken for three decades and I still don't understand DNS. It is a simple protocol but people use it in complicated manners.
(Assuming a typical home connection, your router is _probably_ not a DNS server with local cache, it probably is a DHCP server which will hand out the upstream/ISPs' nameservers.)