Taking control of your DNS

Many webmasters, especially those who run their own servers, rely on
free DNS providers extensively to help ensure site uptime. There are
many out there, with widely varying numbers of pros and cons. For
example, afraid.org seems to provide a great number of configuration
options and features, but adding mass records can still be daunting.
This is true with just about all other free DNS services, as they
typically allow you to add one record at a time. I accidentally
stumbled upon a free host that didn't sound free at all, DollarDNS,
that offers more than I ever expected in a free DNS host. They offer
the typical set of features that most DNS hosts offer, but with one
very important feature: full control of your zone files.

Domains are
added via a web interface, and a sample zone file (from a template that
you can configure) is created. From there, you can use their web
interface to add records, or just dive into the zone editor. The zone
editor is recommended for those who have a bit of experience with DNS
servers as errors can be easily made, but that method is extremely
efficient. For example, if you want to create dozens of CNAMES that
point to www.domain.tld, copying and pasting one line multiple times is
much easier than going to through the web interface dozens of times.


Also, since the zone editor is essentially a plain-text editor that
offers you full control, you can easily import and export zone files
from/to different locations. Afraid.org allows you to export your zone
file, so moving to DollarDNS just involves a simple copy-and-paste.
You can also use your own text editor or a script to generate your zone
file and paste it into DollarDNS when finished.

No minimum TTL maximum hostname limit appears to be mentioned
anywhere, so I doubt that there are any. You seemingly have infinite control over your zone.

I
currently use them for slave DNS and after a NOTIFY, DollarDNS requests
a transfer within a second or so. Compare that to any other service.

DollarDNS
offers two DNS servers, although only ns1.dollardns.net appears to be
authoritative (ns2.dollardns.net refuses queries immediately). Still,
assuming you have other DNS servers authoritative for your domain, that
isn't a major issue.

Dynamic DNS is also supported via a client
that they provide, although I have not tested it. Based on the quality
of the service overall, I expect the dynamic portion to work flawlessly
as well.

I recommend this service overall due to its feature set, quality, reliability, and the admin's modesty (the admin created a page comparing DollarDNS to others, and he admits on the homepage that domain registrations through his service aren't the cheapest around).

If you know of a free host that amazes you, leave a comment. I'd like to hear about it.