Technitium DNS Server

Technitium DNS Server is a cross‑platform, high‑performance DNS engine written in C# that runs on .NET 8. It supports both authoritative and recursive modes, making it suitable for home routers, enterprise networks, or cloud deployments that require fine‑grained control over name resolution. The server exposes a modern web console for configuration, monitoring, and logging, but all functionality is also accessible programmatically via a REST‑style HTTP API. By default it uses asynchronous I/O to handle thousands of concurrent queries on a single CPU core, and the implementation is designed for low memory footprint and deterministic latency.

Key Features

• Recursive & Authoritative – Serve as a forwarder or host zones, with support for zone transfer (AXFR/IXFR) and DNSSEC validation.
• Encrypted Forwarding – Built‑in support for DoT, DoH, and DoQ forwarders to protect outbound queries from eavesdropping or tampering.
• Ad & Malware Blocking – Pull block lists via URLs; the engine automatically merges them into a local filter table that is consulted before forwarding.
• Async IO Core – Uses System.Net.Sockets.Socket with async/await to keep the event loop non‑blocking; benchmarks claim millions of queries per minute on commodity hardware.
• Docker & Cross‑Platform – Official Docker image (technitium/dns-server) and binaries for Windows, Linux, macOS, and Raspberry Pi (ARMv7) simplify deployment.

Technical Stack

Core Capabilities

• Dynamic DNS Updates – Accept signed UPDATE records (RFC 2136) for dynamic host registration.
• Zone Management – Create, edit, and delete zones through the API; supports multiple name servers per zone.
• Query Logging & Analytics – Detailed logs (query type, response code, latency) and real‑time statistics via WebSocket or HTTP polling.
• Plugin Architecture – Developers can extend the server by implementing interfaces exposed in the Technitium.Dns.Server.Plugins namespace; plugins can hook into query processing, logging, or reporting.
• Event Hooks – Webhook endpoints for external services (e.g., alerting, SIEM) triggered on query patterns or failures.

Deployment & Infrastructure

• Self‑Hosting – Runs natively on any machine with .NET 8; requires only port 53 (UDP/TCP) and optional TLS ports.
• Scalability – Stateless in most cases; can be horizontally scaled behind a load balancer by sharing the same zone database via network file system or a central configuration service.
• Containerization – Docker image includes all dependencies; environment variables expose ports, TLS cert paths, and API key secrets. The docker‑compose.yml example demonstrates a single‑node deployment with persistent storage.
• Resource Footprint – ~70 MB binary size; memory usage typically under 200 MiB even with caching enabled.

Integration & Extensibility

• REST API – CRUD operations for zones, records, block lists; authentication via bearer tokens.
• Webhooks – POST payloads on query thresholds, cache hits/misses, or security alerts.
• SDK – A .NET client library (NuGet) wraps the HTTP API, simplifying integration into existing C# applications.
• Custom Forwarders – Developers can write their own forwarder logic (e.g., corporate proxy, custom DNS provider) by implementing the IFwdResolver interface.
• Logging Plugins – Push logs to Syslog, Fluentd, or custom endpoints without modifying the core.

Developer Experience

The configuration model is split between a JSON file (config.json) and the web console, giving developers both programmatic control and an intuitive UI. Documentation is comprehensive: architecture overviews, API reference, and troubleshooting guides are available on the website and in the GitHub repository. The active community on GitHub issues and Discord ensures timely support for bugs and feature requests.

Use Cases

• Home / SMB Networks – Run a local DNS server to cache queries, block unwanted domains, and enforce privacy with DoT/DoH.
• Enterprise DNS – Host internal zones while forwarding external queries through secure forwarders; integrate with existing monitoring tools via webhooks.
• IoT / Edge Devices – Deploy on Raspberry Pi or ARMv7 nodes to provide local name resolution for low‑power devices.
• DevOps Pipelines – Use the API to programmatically provision DNS records for test environments, automatically cleaning up after tests.

Advantages

• Performance – Asynchronous design and low overhead make it competitive with industry‑grade servers like BIND or Unbound.
• Flexibility – Full control over DNS logic, block lists, and forwarding policies; extensible via plugins.
• Security – Built‑in encrypted forwarders, support for DNSSEC validation, and the ability to block malicious