DynDNS
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Dynamic Network Services, Inc. | |
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| Type | Inc. |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1998 |
| Headquarters | Manchester, NH |
| Industry | Network Services |
| Products | Dynamic DNS Static DNS Custom DNS Recursive DNS Domain Registrations E-Mail Services Network Monitoring SSL Certificates Web Redirection |
| Website | http://www.DynDNS.com |
DynDNS® is primarily a DNS hosting service. DynDNS® is the sole Domain Name System (DNS) provider for the .coop TLD. In April of 2006 they received a "Best Buy" rating when they scored a perfect 10 out of 10 rating on Overall Value, Performance and Ease of Use in Consumer Magazine.[1]
DynDNS® started in 1998 when they began providing a free Dynamic DNS service to the public, for which they are well known. Over several years DynDNS.org began offering pay services, while still offering free versions of their services, and changed it's official domain to DynDNS.com.
Their primary service is Dynamic DNS, which gives users an address similar to yourname.dyndns.org. which allows you to run such services as home website, ftp server, web camera, or any number of servers which would normally require you to know the external IP address of your home network.
Generally users run one of the available third-party update clients on their computer, and it keeps their hostname up to date with their most current IP address, even if their ISP changes it often.
DynDNS® also provides other services such as recursive DNS, mail forwarding, mail redirection, SSL certificates, and network monitoring services.
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[edit] History
In 1998, Dynamic Network Services was hatched as a pet project of two college students, Tim Wilde and Chris Reinhardt, at Worcester Polytech Institute (WPI). At that time, the college students ran the free service off of a desktop computer with a dial-up modem.
Within 3 years they had 20,000 users.
In 2001, Jeremy Hitchcock, the current CEO/CFO, and Tom Daly, current President/CIO, joined the project. During that year, DynDNS® asked users for donations and from that they raised $25,000 to move into a data center and purchased needed equipment. By October of that year, they had an LLC filing and charged users a one-time fee of $30 through PayPal for unlimited use of services.
The company grew to the point where they began accepting credit cards and changed the fee structure for services (paid services now have a yearly fee).
On April 1, 2004, the company moved from Worcester Mass. to Sundial Ave in Manchester NH in order to provide office space for expansion.
In 2006, the company moved again to Elm St. in Manchester NH to a location with nearly triple the space of the previous office.
[edit] API and the Internet community
The DynDNS® update API is used by many other businesses and systems. Released as an open system, the intent was to allow easy control by third-party developers. Since it's inception in 1998, the DynDNS® API has been used in a number of different applications and companies. Examples include:
OpenDNS.com - Uses the API to handle access to their services. Result codes have different meanings than the original API standard - Shown here
No-IP.org - Uses the API to control updating hosts and services
ChangeIP.com - Uses a modified version of the API to handle service updates
A number of router manufacturers have adopted the API to include update capabilities in their devices, including Linksys, Netgear, D-Link, Sonicwall, Belkin and many others. Due to the open nature of the API, clients are not regulated and therefore it is impossible to track how many different devices support the API.
There is a certification program available for third-party products but is not required for use of the API.
[edit] How Dynamic DNS works
Once you setup a Dynamic DNS hostname, the hostname you make will point to your new IP. You can run an update client to keep this hostname up to date 24x7, so you never lose access, even if your IP changes. Where you would normally need a static IP, DynDNS® allows you to save the additional costs of upgrading and allows you to use your dynamic IP address.
Dynamic DNS does not take up any of your server's bandwidth, since no traffic actually goes through them. Any user trying to reach your device will send out an initial DNS query to the DNS provider to get your IP address then after that the traffic goes directly to you. This means there is no increase in latency, nor is there any restriction on how the connection can be used, beyond those placed on you by your ISP.
[edit] Can a Dynamic DNS service replace my static IP?
In most situations a static IP is not required. The service allows your host to be mapped to your IP, even when your IP changes. However, there can be some issues depending on your situation, some of which are outlined below:
- If your IP changes while you are connected to your server, you may lose the connection and will need to reconnect.
- While most software and hardware will work with a hostname, some older equipment requires an IP and will not work with a hostname. In those situations a Dynamic DNS service won't help.
- Many email providers block mail from servers that have dynamic IP addresses. To get around this issue you would need to use an outbound mail relaying service to allow you to send out mail through their servers, such as MailHop Outbound.
- Many satellite ISPs place users behind a NAT, which means they do not have a publicly accessible IP; unfortunately this prevents them from running any kind of server.
- You can not setup Reverse DNS using a dynamic IP, only a static IP. This is because your IP is actually owned and controlled by your ISP. In the event you need Reverse DNS to send mail you should upgrade to a static IP address or send mail using a SMTP smart host, such as MailHop Outbound.
