Managed DNS solutions automate server management and DNS zone orchestration processes. With a managed system, the DNS provider handles all the configuration, maintenance and security protocols for an organization’s DNS servers, and the client uses provider infrastructure to manage domain names. In this case, when a user enters a business’s URL, they’re redirected from the company domain name server to the provider’s servers, which fetch all the resources and respond to the user.

In addition to managing the authoritative DNS and deploying recursive resolvers (responsible for caching and data retrieval), managed DNS can provide businesses with:

Choosing between self-managed and managed DNS services depends on several organizational factors, including size, complexity of DNS needs, budgetary constraints, in-house expertise, and required level of DNS data control. Naturally, the self-management approach has its own benefits.

Self-managed DNS gives organizations complete control of DNS configuration, so they can fully customize DNS settings to their exact specifications, apps and services once domain registration is complete. Self-managed DNS can also provide cost savings, since managed DNS involves paying ongoing DNS management and maintenance fees to service providers. And because self-management means keeping more data in-house, it can reduce the risk of security and data breaches. 

However, managing your own DNS can also come with significant risks. DNS traffic patterns can vary widely and are often unpredictable, making it extremely challenging to anticipate spikes in volume and manage load balancing protocols.

If a business chooses self-management, it also must manage its own response to DDoS attacks, which overwhelm targeted servers with a barrage of internet traffic. Without the DNS security extensions (DNSSEC), authentication protocols and DDoS protections a managed service provides, teams might be similarly overwhelmed with security and risk mitigation tasks.

Furthermore, with queries coming in from around the world, networks need to deliver responses within milliseconds to meet user experience expectations. Since internet queries can only travel so fast, delivering a high-performance site requires a global DNS (called “points of presence”) that deliver answers to DNS queries at scale, which can be a significant investment for some companies.

And for many organizations, the cost of building a global network of data centers with enough capacity, security, and resilience to meet the demands of today’s internet—combined with the cost of training personnel—is prohibitively expensive.

Organizations should weigh the risk and benefits carefully and with consideration for their long-term strategy, the criticality of DNS to their online presence, and any potential security risks. Some businesses might benefit from a hybrid approach, allowing them to manage critical domains with self-managed DNS while leveraging the benefits of managed DNS for less sensitive or secondary domains.

Though DNS solutions have evolved significantly since their introduction, managed DNS providers continue to expand and advance DNS technologies to keep pace with the dynamic nature of internet traffic management.

For example, managed DNS now goes beyond basic load balancing to optimize performance, control costs and provide a streamlined app experience. Modern DNS platforms—like IBM NS1—can even make query routing decisions based on specific use cases.

Forward-thinking managed DNS platforms can also deploy infrastructure as code, which can provide a significant advantage in today’s API-based DevOps, edge computing and serverless IT architectures. Managed platforms can enable—rather than block—these systems by using simplified REST APIs with pre-configured architectures. And integration with tools like Terraform can make integrating managed DNS features into existing systems even easier.