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I'm not really pro or con on a fallback... but I wonder why is google and cloudflare being picked here? Are the public DNS servers not allowed to be used? I m

by throw7 6y ago

I'm not really pro or con on a fallback... but I wonder why is google and cloudflare being picked here? Are the public DNS servers not allowed to be used? I mean, if privacy is being used as an argument, wouldn't you not want to use corporate controlled dns servers? Personally, I'd rather it not work, so I can diagnose it and fix it correctly, rather than being blind to the problem, but that's the anti-grandma response not particularly cachet in today's world (which I get, I have a grandma too).

teddyh 6y ago
The Google and Cloudflare servers are resolving DNS servers. There are no publicly available resolving DNS servers in the standard DNS system, because the DNS protocol as offered by DNS resolvers is vulnerable to a traffic amplification attack, and only large entities like Google and Cloudflare can afford to spend the resources needed to mitigate that. Of course, Google and Cloudflare don’t do it out of the kindness of their hearts; by monitoring the DNS traffic, they gain enormous insight into what everybody is doing.
- charcircuit 6y ago
  >by monitoring the DNS traffic, they gain enormous insight into what everybody is doing. Both companies only collect anonymous analytics. Google does not use the data for personalizing ads. They both do this to improve speed and security of the Internet. For cloudflare it probably also serves as marketing to help get their name out there.
  - teddyh 6y ago
    > Both companies only collect anonymous analytics. Google does not use the data for personalizing ads. I did not claim that. I said “gain enormous insight into what everybody is doing”, and I chose my words with care. They might only gain insight into what everyone in aggregate is doing, if they are not saving information about each request. But, of course, almost nobody in the world is in the position to know if they are not doing that. It is almost impossible to be in a position to know that Google or Cloudflare is not doing some specific thing. > They both do this to improve speed and security of the Internet. Let’s get real. They are doing this to make money. Exactly how this is making Google and Cloudflare money is anyone’s guess, and it might be via some version of what you wrote, and it might be different reasons at different times and at different companies. But again, as I wrote above, almost nobody is in a position to know these things. > For cloudflare it probably also serves as marketing to help get their name out there. Yes. Again, money.

by throw7 6y ago

teddyh 6y ago

The Google and Cloudflare servers are resolving DNS servers. There are no publicly available resolving DNS servers in the standard DNS system, because the DNS protocol as offered by DNS resolvers is vulnerable to a traffic amplification attack, and only large entities like Google and Cloudflare can afford to spend the resources needed to mitigate that. Of course, Google and Cloudflare don’t do it out of the kindness of their hearts; by monitoring the DNS traffic, they gain enormous insight into what everybody is doing.

charcircuit 6y ago
>by monitoring the DNS traffic, they gain enormous insight into what everybody is doing. Both companies only collect anonymous analytics. Google does not use the data for personalizing ads. They both do this to improve speed and security of the Internet. For cloudflare it probably also serves as marketing to help get their name out there.
- teddyh 6y ago
  > Both companies only collect anonymous analytics. Google does not use the data for personalizing ads. I did not claim that. I said “gain enormous insight into what everybody is doing”, and I chose my words with care. They might only gain insight into what everyone in aggregate is doing, if they are not saving information about each request. But, of course, almost nobody in the world is in the position to know if they are not doing that. It is almost impossible to be in a position to know that Google or Cloudflare is not doing some specific thing. > They both do this to improve speed and security of the Internet. Let’s get real. They are doing this to make money. Exactly how this is making Google and Cloudflare money is anyone’s guess, and it might be via some version of what you wrote, and it might be different reasons at different times and at different companies. But again, as I wrote above, almost nobody is in a position to know these things. > For cloudflare it probably also serves as marketing to help get their name out there. Yes. Again, money.