Google introduces Google Public DNS

Google has announced that today it is launching its own public DNS resolver called Google Public DNS.

Domain Name System (DNS) power how we all surf the web currently. In general internet service providers supply their own DNS servers that resolve web addresses and translate them into the physical IP addresses that web servers are located at. Google says the goal of its own DNS is to help the tens of thousands of DNS resolvers improve their services, ultimately making the web faster for everyone.

However, speed isn't everything when it comes to DNS. Security is an essential element as DNS is often vulnerable to spoofing attacks, which when taken advantage of will forward all users to a malicious website. Google claims its own DNS "makes it more difficult for attackers to spoof valid responses by randomizing the case of query names and including additional data in its DNS messages."

The idea of changing your DNS to a third party, other than your ISP, is not a new one. OpenDNS has been providing such services for nearly four years. David Ulevitch, founder of OpenDNS, has summarised his own thoughts on Google's DNS in a company blog posting today. Ulevitch explains that Google's DNS is not the same as OpenDNS, stating "we run the largest DNS caches, the fastest resolvers, and we offer the most flexibility in controlling your DNS experience." Later in the post he praises Google stating that "Google realizes that DNS is a critical piece of our Internet's infrastructure and that it's of strategic importance to help people safely and reliably navigate the Internet." It's clear in the blog posting that Ulevitch sees Google's move as clear competition, rounding off the blog post he finishes "so how will this impact us? It's too early to tell, but largely I think this is a good thing for us. Google DNS currently offers none of the choice and flexibility that our service does. It's new and untested."

If you'd like to use Google DNS then please use the settings below, if you are unsure how to set DNS then follow the instructions Google has posted.