Came across this cool new introduction from Google named Google Public DNS – a set of DNS Servers that are meant to replace the DNS servers that you normally use (most likely handed out automatically by your ISP) and considerably speed-up your browsing experience.
This service leverages on Google’s existing search database and thus accounts for speedy (pre-cached) DNS resolution using their load-balanced servers all around the world – a service that no single ISP can provide. In my experience, the ISP based DNS in Thailand tend to be moderate to horribly slow. Switching to the Google DNS visibly improved page loading time for me. Even in the case of non-existent domains, the browser spent far less time in informing me – rather than waiting around and trying to resolve for a good while. See Performance Benefits for detailed information.
According to the documentation, Google has taken adequate measures to prevent security issues – DNS poisoning, Denial-of-Service attacks to name a few – that arise with such open DNS servers.
Using the Google Public DNS Servers is as easy as opening your TCP/IP Settings panel and keying in the new DNS addresses – which on their own are really short and sweet (and easily memorized). They are:
- 8.8.8.8
- 8.8.4.4
A few years back I had reviewed a similar service named OpenDNS. This service generates it’s revenue by displaying relevant advertisement on an interstitial page when a domain cannot be resolved. Surprisingly, Google’s DNS (so far) is an entirely ad-free venture.
For the weak-hearted, i.e. those of you who do not wish to mess around with your DNS settings, there’s this handy little tool named Google DNS Helper (requires .NET Framework 2.0 and above) that performs one-click switch between Google’s DNS and your own ISP’s DNS settings.
In this context, another noteworthy tool is DNS Jumper, which allows you to switch between 16 different DNS servers (configurable). The software comes pre-configured with addresses for a multitude of open DNS servers, e.g. Google DNS, OpenDNS, Comodo DNS etc. This tool will allow for quick switching and benchmarking of the various open DNS services.
So far, I had been supplementing my ISP’s DNS with those of OpenDNS and on many occasions they’ve been able to resolve domains that my ISP’s DNS couldn’t. However, the speed of resolution was at best average. Hence, I never got around to using them as my primary resolvers. With Google – maybe because of the brand name itself – I switched over immediately and voila! Amazing results.
Update (2010-07-12): A new version of DNS Jumper (v1.04) is out.
