DNS Monitoring Tool Options: Your calm assumption that the DNS (domain name system) provider hosting your domain names is gladly rerouting traffic to your servers is probably correct. I don’t want to disturb your serenity. Still, you should be patient and rely on your DNS provider because there are hazards that might endanger it and performance difficulties that can harm visitors’ experiences on your website.
A global hacking effort was started approximately a year ago to attack DNS servers with a particular vulnerability. Many DNS servers are now sending traffic to rogue websites due to the assaults. The issues were eventually resolved, but the attack acted as a wake-up call for all network administrators and website owners to monitor their DNS infrastructure.
Due to this, DNS monitoring activities have become essential to managing any IT system, regardless of the architecture or intended use. But first, let’s examine what it means to entrust a domain name to a DNS provider before delving further into DNS monitoring. Domain names and specific IP addresses are mapped by DNS records, which are files. On name servers, these files are kept. In addition, the locations of top-level domains (TLDs) like .com, .org, and .edu are stored on root nameservers dispersed worldwide.
Each TLD lists several servers that track where the DNS records for each domain are kept; these servers are often DNS providers or registrars like GoDaddy or Namecheap. These are each domain name’s authoritative servers. A DNS provider’s servers become authoritative for any queries pointing to the new domain when you add a domain name to their servers.
Following this description, it is simple to see how important DNS is to network performance and how it serves as a breeding ground for security flaws. As the initial point of contact between end users and their services, you are responsible for ensuring the DNS’s availability and performance. A reliable DNS monitoring service is also required to guarantee these two factors.
What Does DNS Monitoring Do?
To routinely verify the reliability of the DNS servers and keep informed about any changes in the DNS setup, you must monitor the DNS provider that manages the records of your domain names. By implementing this, you will be alerted to potential site attack attempts or be informed when an inconsistent or problematic DNS is affecting your site’s overall performance.
DNS monitoring tools test the communication between the authoritative name servers of the domain names and the recursive name servers, which function as cache memory to run up the name lookup process. This testing can be carried out either manually or automatically at predetermined intervals. The testing tool must keep you informed of the outcomes if performed automatically. These tools may even be used to compare the services of other providers or to verify the service level agreement (SLA) of the DNS service provider.
A DNS MONITORING SERVICE MUST TEST the DNS service’s ability to return the right set of IP addresses until it reaches the root DNS server. This allows it to recognize DNS spoofing or hijacking attempts. A DNS flood is another sort of attack; to identify one, a DNS monitoring tool should notice DNS slowdowns and notify a network administrator when a flood attack could occur. Every DNS monitoring service should do these common functions, but the different solutions available provide a variety of other capabilities that need to be compared to choose the best options.
Let’s examine some of the top DNS monitoring services currently accessible.
The Best DNS Monitoring Tool Options
We’ve compiled a list of DNS Monitoring Tool options to help you find the right one.
1. StatusCake
In case you neglect to renew your domain name before the deadline, squatters won’t take over your domain and harm your company, thanks to the StatusCake domain monitoring tool’s timely alerts. Additionally, you may monitor changes to your DNS records. One of the three plans that StatusCake offers is free with a few restrictions and a 5-minute testing window. A free trial period is available for the subscription plans, which add further features, including SMS alerts, more frequent testing intervals of 30 seconds, and team tools.
2. DNS Spy
DNS Spy was developed for individuals who are paranoid about the security of their DNS. Its sole emphasis is DNS monitoring, as suggested by its name. You only need to add your domain and wait for the results of the service to try it out. With warnings and advice for each reported item, the system will automatically locate all pertinent DNS records and provide a thorough report outlining connectivity, performance, security, resilience, and coverage concerns.
In addition to keeping a complete history of the modifications and backing up your DNS records in case you need to restore them, the complete monitoring service sends alerts each time a record is changed. Additionally, it checks to see whether all of your nameservers are in sync and notifies you of any configurations that are incorrect or break RFCs. There are three options for the price plans, each of which covers a different number of domains.
3. ZoneWatcher
Monitoring, reporting, and backing up DNS systems are all automated with ZoneWatcher. Well, you’ll always have a backup copy of your DNS records with our DNS Monitoring Tool if you need to recover from an unwelcome change or if something goes wrong. It offers a robust changelog that lets you check a zone’s whole history of modifications. ZoneWatcher lets you monitor domains from many providers if you work with numerous clients because it is primarily designed for professional use. Divide the monitoring employees by the controlled object, which lets you form teams. The data may be exported as zone files and/or informed through a REST API that lets you use your application to interact with the data. The alerts can be delivered by email.
4. Uptrends
We know that monitoring your IP address alone will not allow you to detect every potential DNS issue. To follow all the important DNS records from a global network of checkpoints, Uptrends offers External DNS Monitoring. The Uptrends service additionally monitors DNS zone delegates, keeps track of SMTP mail server mappings, checks aliases, and verifies SOA numbers in addition to DNS A records (IPv4) and AAAA records (IPv6). In order to prevent downtime, alerts are provided through several channels as soon as a DNS issue arises, allowing you and your team to act quickly. In addition, you may get reports from Uptrends that contain crucial information, the number of your DNS servers gathered from all around the world, and their performance.
5. DNS Check
DNS Check offers a monitoring service that is limited to DNS. It checks DNS records and name servers often for lookup errors or modifications and notifies you if it finds a change. You can either input the DNS records you need to monitor or import the whole zone file into the system. DNS Check lets you provide a link that identifies the records that need to be updated whenever one is required. Updates are detected, and you’ll be notified. DNS Check shows you what needs to be corrected and assists you in determining whether a DNS problem exists for troubleshooting reasons. If you need to monitor ten domains, DNS Check may be used for free. You can opt for a subscription plan if the number of domains you need to monitor exceeds ten.
6. Sucuri
Sucuri offers DNS monitoring services as part of its website security platform. Simply activating website malware detection on the Sucuri interface will activate these services. The monitoring service sets off alerts to let you know when DNS record changes occur. When your DNS goes offline, when unintentional changes are made, or when hackers update your DNS with malicious intent, the Sucuri monitoring solution alerts you. The scanning frequency may be changed via the Sucuri dashboard to meet your demands. You can choose to get alerts through email, SMS, Slack, or RSS. Additionally, the email reports provide a wealth of data for forensic examination.
7. AppNeta
Even though it is made to fit any network architecture, AppNeta’s approach to DNS monitoring is particularly appropriate for businesses moving to the cloud. It uses a thorough monitoring engine that covers a variety of servers, both internal and external and works with a wide range of ISPs and DNS providers. AppNeta retains the data for a full year at no further cost. You can see how DNS resolution affects the user experience of your application by analyzing that data. Additionally, you may look for patterns in performance spikes or spot deteriorating trends in performance. To assist IT workers in identifying DNS resolution difficulties linked to application issues, the monitoring service includes the application context in its reports. The network performance monitoring tools from AppNeta’s portfolio are strongly linked with DNS monitoring.
8. Site24x7
Site24x7 offers a comprehensive monitoring solution from a single interface for servers, public or private clouds, websites, and apps. The website monitoring solution also inspects the FTP, SSL, SMTP, POP, URL, API, HTTPS protocols, and DNS service. It offers alerts, full reports with screen recording, and second checking from several locations. The services may be monitored through the internet, intranet, Wi-Fi, and 3G and 4G networks. The DNS monitoring, in particular, offers thorough interruption and performance data and also classifies the end-user experience as satisfied, neutral, or unsatisfied. Voice calls, SMS, emails, Twitter, RSS feeds, and push mobile notifications can all be used to provide alerts and notifications.
9. Paessler PRTG
Network monitoring software called PRTG, developed by Paessler AG, offers unified monitoring of bandwidth, servers, applications, network devices, virtual environments, the Internet of Things, remote systems, and more. The DNS monitoring tool, in particular, checks the performance and availability of your DNS servers, routinely giving thorough statistics and alerting you immediately in case of problems or downtime.
The firm offers six different pricing tiers, ranging in the number of sensors that can be placed (from 500 to limitless) and the number of servers that can host them. A sensor is one of the aspects of a device that PRTG allows you to monitor. For instance, the amount of traffic flowing over a network connection, a particular URL, a port on a switch, or the CPU load on a computer. Users may flexibly modify the solution to monitor anything they require by licensing the number of sensors rather than the number of devices.
10. Nagios
Both Nagios XI and Nagios Core, well-known monitoring tools used by millions of consumers and thousands of businesses, from Fortune 500 organizations to small company owners, provide DNS monitoring as part of their features. You may enhance the availability of servers, services, and applications, quickly identify network outages and protocol errors, and quickly identify DNS hijacking and spoofing by using Nagios to monitor DNS servers, protocols, and queries. Third-party components, such as plugins and wizards on the Nagios Exchange, can be added to the Nagios monitoring solution. The basic solution greatly gains from these additions, including increased reporting capabilities, mobile access to logs, in-depth analysis, and other unique features. In addition, Nagios offers monitoring for protocols such as SNMP, HTTP, SSH, FTP, and SMTP, in addition to DNS.
11. Dotcom-monitor
With Dotcom-Monitor’s enterprise-level DNS monitoring, you can assure DNS availability and functioning from more than 30 global monitoring locations while receiving notifications immediately (through email, SMS, or phone). You can also view performance data. Slow performance directly results from slow DNS resolution, which may be quite expensive for enterprises. When issues occur, Dotcom-Monitor displays the whole DNS propagation path, unlike other DNS monitoring tools, allowing you to identify the issue’s source quickly.
12. Catchpoint
By accessing hundreds of vantage points from all different providers—backbone, cloud, last mile, broadband, and wireless—the DNS monitoring tool from Catchpoint offers a realistic view of DNS performance. Well, by asking each server in the DNS route to determine the source of failure, it may demonstrate actual DNS speed, reliability, reachability, and availability, assisting in the debugging and isolating problems. By examining the DNS cache and performance from well-known DNS resolvers, Catchpoint enables you to find misconfigured nameservers in your resolution chain. The solution identifies possible attacks early by detecting response time abnormalities and directly monitoring DNS servers. In order to select the optimal solution when planning a move, the DNS performance monitor checks your DNS provider and lets you compare providers.
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Conclusion: DNS Monitoring Tool
Being paranoid about keeping your website active and in good condition is okay. You may choose the domain monitoring solution that best soothes your paranoia from our long choices below. Making a decision now involves weighing the costs and advantages. One last piece of advice: remember that the cost includes more than just the price you pay upfront or every month. It also includes the time it takes you or your team to stay informed about your DNS services, to address problems, and, ideally, to recover from a disaster.