{"slug": "powerdns", "name": "PowerDNS", "category": "networking", "category_name": "Networking and VPN", "description": "", "recommenders": 3, "commenters": 4, "warners": 0, "score": 2.944, "rising": -0.98, "first": "2025-12-03", "latest": "2026-07-02", "why": "This is convenient because you don't have to synchronize zone files on multiple hosts.", "why_is_quote": true, "has_verdict": false, "sentiment": {"recommend": 2, "neutral": 2, "compare": 0, "warn": 0}, "spark": [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0], "listed": true, "loved": [], "caveat": "", "short_quote": "This is convenient because you don't have to synchronize zone files on multiple hosts.", "icon": true, "domain": null, "github_repo": null, "official_url": "https://www.powerdns.com", "pricing": "", "aliases": ["PowerDNS"], "verdict": null, "praise": [{"label": "", "summary": "", "quotes": [{"id": 780199953, "item_id": 48762497, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48762497", "by": "grapheneos", "date": "2026-07-02", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "We've made recent contributions to various projects we use including PowerDNS because they don't make it too difficult to contribute.", "excerpt": "> Very little in GrapheneOS has gone back upstream post-Copperhead. Most of what we've landed upstream has been post-Copperhead. AOSP made it increasingly difficult to contribute without being an Android partner and it's nearly impossible now. We've contributed elsewhere including to the Linux kernel and PowerDNS. We don't try to submit security improvements to the Linux kernel anymore based on direct experience of i", "context": "GrapheneOS developer", "use_case": "DNS", "switched_from": "", "story": "A new Android malware from Google"}, {"id": 779264016, "item_id": 48704001, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48704001", "by": "exiguus", "date": "2026-06-27", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "It's super stable and i can also use it on my mobile or legacy devices", "excerpt": "I use my own public powerdns dnsdist and recurser/authoritave instances for DoH, DoT, DoQ, TCP and UDP now for ~3 years. Setup took some time, because i used bind, unbound and dnsmasq before. It's super stable and i can also use it on my mobile or legacy devices and as resolver in unbound, adguard/dnsproxy or just in my local resolve.conf.", "context": "", "use_case": "public DNS resolver, DoH/DoT", "switched_from": "BIND", "story": "Choosing a Public DNS Resolver"}, {"id": 752985936, "item_id": 47061621, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47061621", "by": "cullumsmith", "date": "2026-02-18", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "This is convenient because you don't have to synchronize zone files on multiple hosts.", "excerpt": "PowerDNS is an open-source DNS server that lets you store your DNS configuration in a variety of different backends, one of which is LDAP. For each of my \"domain controllers, I run: OpenLDAP, an MIT Kerberos KDC, and a PowerDNS server. The KDC and PowerDNS both get their data from LDAP on 127.0.0.1, and LDAP changes are synchronized between all the nodes. This is convenient because you don't have to synchronize zone ", "context": "runs own domain controllers", "use_case": "DNS server with LDAP backend", "switched_from": "", "story": "Native FreeBSD Kerberos/LDAP with FreeIPA/IDM"}]}], "caveats": [], "who": [{"by": "grapheneos", "context": "GrapheneOS developer", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48762497", "date": "2026-07-02"}, {"by": "cullumsmith", "context": "runs own domain controllers", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47061621", "date": "2026-02-18"}, {"by": "brianjlogan", "context": "runs own home router", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46142353", "date": "2025-12-03"}], "tags": [], "use_cases": ["dns", "public dns resolver, doh/dot", "dns server with ldap backend", "home dns"], "compared": [{"slug": "bind", "name": "BIND", "co": 2, "switched_from": 1, "switched_to": 0}, {"slug": "openldap", "name": "OpenLDAP", "co": 2, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}], "makers": [], "threads": [{"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47059520", "title": "Native FreeBSD Kerberos/LDAP with FreeIPA/IDM", "mentions": 2}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48755965", "title": "A new Android malware from Google", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48702273", "title": "Choosing a Public DNS Resolver", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46142000", "title": "Kea DHCP: Modern, open source DHCPv4 and DHCPv6 server", "mentions": 1}], "sentiment_by_month": {"2025-11": {}, "2025-12": {"neutral": 1}, "2026-01": {}, "2026-02": {"neutral": 1}, "2026-03": {}, "2026-04": {}, "2026-05": {}, "2026-06": {"recommend": 1}, "2026-07": {"recommend": 1}, "2026-08": {}, "2026-09": {}, "2026-10": {}}, "quotes": [{"id": 780199953, "item_id": 48762497, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48762497", "by": "grapheneos", "date": "2026-07-02", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "We've made recent contributions to various projects we use including PowerDNS because they don't make it too difficult to contribute.", "excerpt": "> Very little in GrapheneOS has gone back upstream post-Copperhead. Most of what we've landed upstream has been post-Copperhead. AOSP made it increasingly difficult to contribute without being an Android partner and it's nearly impossible now. We've contributed elsewhere including to the Linux kernel and PowerDNS. We don't try to submit security improvements to the Linux kernel anymore based on direct experience of i", "context": "GrapheneOS developer", "use_case": "DNS", "switched_from": "", "story": "A new Android malware from Google"}, {"id": 779264016, "item_id": 48704001, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48704001", "by": "exiguus", "date": "2026-06-27", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "It's super stable and i can also use it on my mobile or legacy devices", "excerpt": "I use my own public powerdns dnsdist and recurser/authoritave instances for DoH, DoT, DoQ, TCP and UDP now for ~3 years. Setup took some time, because i used bind, unbound and dnsmasq before. It's super stable and i can also use it on my mobile or legacy devices and as resolver in unbound, adguard/dnsproxy or just in my local resolve.conf.", "context": "", "use_case": "public DNS resolver, DoH/DoT", "switched_from": "BIND", "story": "Choosing a Public DNS Resolver"}, {"id": 752985936, "item_id": 47061621, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47061621", "by": "cullumsmith", "date": "2026-02-18", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "This is convenient because you don't have to synchronize zone files on multiple hosts.", "excerpt": "PowerDNS is an open-source DNS server that lets you store your DNS configuration in a variety of different backends, one of which is LDAP. For each of my \"domain controllers, I run: OpenLDAP, an MIT Kerberos KDC, and a PowerDNS server. The KDC and PowerDNS both get their data from LDAP on 127.0.0.1, and LDAP changes are synchronized between all the nodes. This is convenient because you don't have to synchronize zone ", "context": "runs own domain controllers", "use_case": "DNS server with LDAP backend", "switched_from": "", "story": "Native FreeBSD Kerberos/LDAP with FreeIPA/IDM"}, {"id": 752966146, "item_id": 47060384, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47060384", "by": "cullumsmith", "date": "2026-02-18", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "opted for a stack of OpenLDAP / MIT Kerberos / PowerDNS on my \"domain controllers.\"", "excerpt": "Nice. I run a very similar setup, but opted for a stack of OpenLDAP / MIT Kerberos / PowerDNS on my \"domain controllers.\" OpenLDAP does multimaster replication and is the backend for DNS records and the Kerberos database. The hardest part was figuring out OpenLDAPs configuration syntax, especially the correct ldif incantations for things like nested group memberOf= queries, schemas, and ACLs. It's somewhat inscrutabl", "context": "", "use_case": "DNS", "switched_from": "", "story": "Native FreeBSD Kerberos/LDAP with FreeIPA/IDM"}, {"id": 738277649, "item_id": 46142353, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46142353", "by": "brianjlogan", "date": "2025-12-03", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I used Kea and Power DNS using Systemd Containers to provide service for my whole home.", "excerpt": "I ran my own home router and I used Kea and Power DNS using Systemd Containers to provide service for my whole home. I was really impressed. I think the folks who put it together did a good job of addressing the major warts of my experience with isc-dhcp-server. I'm sure it's a tremendous challenge writing software that's supposed to live up to modern expectations while still attempting to deliver on all of the legac", "context": "runs own home router", "use_case": "home DNS", "switched_from": "", "story": "Kea DHCP: Modern, open source DHCPv4 and DHCPv6 server"}]}