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diff --git a/content/articles/ddns.md b/content/articles/ddns.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..44ed11a --- /dev/null +++ b/content/articles/ddns.md @@ -0,0 +1,160 @@ ++++ +title = "Dynamic DNS" +author = ["Michał Sapka"] +date = 2022-05-13T22:26:00+02:00 +lastmod = 2023-12-29T23:13:44+01:00 +categories = ["article"] +draft = false +weight = 2006 +abstract = "DDNS is a DNS for folks with non-static IP. Here I try to choose the best for me." ++++ + +I am one of the unlucky ones without static IP address. +I would get one from my ISP, but this would require me to upgrade to a business contract. +And to do such upgrade, I would need a company - which I do not own nor have I any plans to own in the near future. +Luckily, I can still have a domain. +There is a group of services under the umbrella term Dynamic DNS. + +[DDNS on Arch Wiki](https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Dynamic_DNS) + +Basically, I need to point my domain to their name server and keep them up to date with changes of my IP. +The DDNS server acts as a middle-man when using a normal domain. +In most cases, I just need to fetch a given URL periodically ad the service will treat this as current IP set. + + +## Self hosting vs 3rd party {#self-hosting-vs-3rd-party} + +There are ready-made packages I could install on any VPS, but debugging DNS is not something I would like to do. +Therefore, I will go with 3rd party. + +I looked through the interwebs for providers and found lots of them. +Unfortunately, most of them are dead, so the choice is much less difficult. + + +## Requirements {#requirements} + +After a short analysis, I came up with few requirements: + +| Max number of domains | 3 | +|-------------------------------------|------------| +| Max number of subdomains per domain | 20 | +| Expected uptime | 95.5 | +| Location | Europe/USA | +| MX Records | YES | +| TTL | 10min | + + +## Instant rejects {#instant-rejects} + +I instantly rejected some providers, since they will now work for my use case: + +| Service | Reason? | +|----------------------|--------------------------------------| +| activedns.co.za | South Africa only | +| bcu.cc | Site does not open | +| ddns.nu | Site does not open | +| dhcp.io | Domain for sale | +| dhs.org | Site does not open | +| dns.widge.net | Site does not open | +| dnsdynamic.org | Some random site under the address | +| dnsmadeeasy.com | It's namecheap now | +| dnspark.com | It's namecheap now | +| dtdns.com | Broken site | +| dyn.ee | Domain for sale | +| dyn.ro | Domain for sale (I think) | +| dynamicdomain.net | Site reads like poor phising attempt | +| dyndsl.com | Domain for sale | +| domain-dns.com | Not accepting new zones | +| dyndnsservices.com | Offers self-host only | +| dynfree.com | Broken site | +| dynup.net | Broken site | +| hldns.com | No longer offers DDNS | +| hn.org | Site does not work | +| homepc.org | Site does not work | +| hub.turnkeylinux.org | Site does not work | +| microtech.co.gg | Site does not work | +| minidns.net | Site does not work | +| myonlineportal.net | Only 10 domains per account | +| myserver.org | Broken site | +| nettica.com | Domain for sale | +| nicolas.cx | No sign-up via web | +| nubem.com | Site does not work | +| ods.org | Domain for sale | +| powerdns.com | Self hosted solution | +| prout.be | Self hosted solution | +| spdns.de | No english site | +| system-ns.com | No longer offers DDNS | +| tzo.com | Site does not work | +| whyi.org | Site does not work | +| worldwidedns.net | Does not support enough zones | +| xname.org | Site does not work | +| yi.org | Site does not work | + +\## The potential ones + +After removing most positions from list, I dig a big deeper: + +| Service | Price | Uptime | Location | +|--------------------|--------------|-----------|-------------| +| | per year | | | +| changeip.com | $6 | 99.9% (1) | USA | +| dhis.org | Donation | ? | ? | +| dns2go.com | lots$ | ? | ? | +| dnsexit.com | FREE for TLD | 100% | Distributed | +| duckdns.org | FREE | ? | ? | +| duiadns.net | $11 | ? | ? | +| dynaccess.de | 22EUR | ? | Germany | +| dynamip.com | $48 | ? | ? | +| dyndns.berlin | FREE | ? | Germany | +| dyndns.com | $55 | ? | ? | +| dyndns.dk | FREE | ? | ? | +| dynip.com | lots$ | ? | ? | +| dyns.cx | Donation | ? | ? | +| dynu.com | FREE | 100% (2) | Distributed | +| easydns.com | FREE | 100% | ? | +| freedns.afraid.org | $60 | ~99.3%(3) | ? | +| noip.com | $24.99 | 100% (2) | ? | +| planetdns.net | $299.95 | ? | ? | +| staticcling.org | FREE | ? | ? | +| thatip.com | $48 | ? | ? | +| thebbs.org | FREE | ? | ? | +| totaluptime.com | $1188(SIC!) | ? | ? | +| zonomi.com | lots$ | ? | ? | + +- [(1) whtop.com](<https://www.whtop.com/review/changeip.com>) +- [(2) comparingtech.com](<https://www.comparitech.com/net-admin/dynamic-dns-providers/>) +- [(3) dnsperf.com](<https://www.dnsperf.com/dns-provider/afraid-org>) + +Notes: + +- "?" - I couldn't find data, but also I wasn't looking very hard +- "lots$" - some providers have a complicated pricing and at first glance it was obvious, that it will be expensive. + + As we see, some working providers are crazy expensive. They add extra features, but still - crazy expensive. + + +## Conclusion {#conclusion} + +DDNS is a strange market. It's mostly dead. But when the service is still available, it seems to be run from someone's basement. There are companies in the space, don't get me wrong - but most of it looks like hacker culture byproduct. And this makes sense, since the primary use case for DDNS is someone without static IP - ergo, an individual and not a company. + +The sad aspect of this is lack of any SLAs in most cases. + +The happy aspect of this is that you can get a lot for very little. + + +## Decision {#decision} + +Looking at the data, I have decided to go with dynu.com as it has 100% uptime, and it's free. + + +## Setting up dynu.com on Synology {#setting-up-dynu-dot-com-on-synology} + +First, create a dedicated IP update password on dynu.com. It's optional, but highly recommended. + +Then, in Synology Control Panel open External Access, then click on "DDNS" tab. Click "Customize Provider" and set query URL to + +```nil +https://api.dynu.com/nic/update?myip=__MYIP__&username=__USERNAME__&password=__PASSWORD__&hostname__HOSTNAME__&myipv6=no +``` + +Now, add a subdomain. Note, that it would be best to MD5 the password. |