Azure DNS Reviews

The DNS (Domain Name System) is a system used to provide domain names for virtual machines on the Azure cloud. Both third-party DNS and Microsoft DNS are options for users of Azure. Microsoft DNS is an inbuilt offering from Microsoft and can be used by those with workloads deployed on Azure. Azure DNS is primarily used for domain name resolution for virtual machines on the cloud.

One of the key benefits of Azure DNS is its integration with other Azure services. As it is a solution developed by Microsoft, it is easy to integrate with other Azure offerings. Azure DNS also includes Defender for DNS, a feature that protects against anomalies and threats on the DNS. This added security is provided directly by Microsoft. The integration and security features of Azure DNS make it a valuable option for users of the Azure cloud platform.

Azure DNS does provide enhanced support for applications and includes several security features to protect against threats. One of the security features it offers is the ability to detect and prevent dangling DNS records, which can be used in cyber attacks. Dangling DNS records occur when a website owner creates a domain name but forgets to remove the CNAME record, leaving the domain vulnerable to takeover by malicious actors. Azure DNS includes security measures to identify and prevent such threats, helping to keep your DNS infrastructure secure. However, if Microsoft could add more security capabilities to the DNS, that would be great to detect and identify anomalies that are happening to prevent cyber threats.

I have been using Azure DNS for approximately five years.

The solution is 100 percent stable. The stability is managed by Microsoft.

Azure DNS is a scalable solution. The scaling is done by Microsoft, we do not have to worry about it.

Using Azure DNS does not require extensive technical expertise. If support is needed, you can simply raise a ticket with Microsoft and one of their product engineers will assist you. This means that you do not need to invest in external or third-party technical support, making it a convenient and cost-effective solution.

The level of support you receive from Microsoft when using Azure DNS will depend on the support plan you have with them. If you are a larger enterprise with a Premier support plan, you will typically receive more support and have a shorter response time from Microsoft. For smaller companies, the support plans and response times may be different. It is important to carefully consider your support needs and choose a plan that meets the requirements of your company.

We have used other in-house solutions which are vNEXT-based DNS or Windows-based DNS. These were systems we are fully in control of and do the deployment but Azure DNS is a complete Microsoft cloud offering. It is the most advanced version of DNS we can have.

The initial setup of the solution is simple because it is on the cloud. It only takes a few clicks of the mouse. For example, for a volume of a thousand virtual machines, it takes one day to implement.

To implement Azure DNS, the following steps can be taken:

1. Deploy a virtual machine on a VNET in Azure.
2. On the VNET blade, select Microsoft DNS as the DNS provider. Alternatively, you can choose to use a third-party DNS provider by selecting the corresponding radio button.
3. Click the radio button to confirm your choice of DNS provider.

No additional configuration is required, as Azure DNS is an in-house product from Microsoft and is already integrated with other Azure services. You can simply select it as the DNS provider for your virtual machine and it will be ready to use.

Using Azure DNS can provide a good return on investment for your company. As a fully managed offering, it does not require any hardware investment or maintenance, so there is no upfront capital expenditure (CapEx) costs. You can pay for Azure DNS on a pay-as-you-go basis, which means that your operating expenditure (OpEx) costs will be based on actual usage. This can be more cost-effective than managing and scaling your own DNS infrastructure, as you do not need to invest in hardware or hire specialized staff to maintain it. Using a cloud-based DNS solution, such as Azure DNS can provide a high return on investment due to its low upfront costs and flexibility.

Azure DNS is generally not priced separately. It is included as part of the overall Azure licensing and is typically charged based on usage. This means that you only pay for the resources you use, such as the volume of traffic on your DNS. There is no specific pricing for Azure DNS assets, as it is part of the overall Azure pricing model. You can choose a pay-as-you-go plan, which charges based on actual usage, or a subscription plan, which allows you to pay a fixed rate for a set amount of resources.

I rate Azure DNS an eight out of ten.

Azure DNS is used for DNS forwarders and for cloud-native journeys.

The most valuable features of Azure DNS are the DNS forwarder and the DNS additional record editions.

Azure DNS sticks mostly with the Azure native solution and doesn't scale well in a multi-cloud or hybrid environment. A lot of functionalities are not available in the hybrid cloud.

A public DNS resolver should be included in the next release.

I have been working with Azure DNS for almost two years.

Azure DNS is a very stable solution, and I rate Azure DNS a ten out of ten for stability.

I rate Azure DNS a seven out of ten for scalability. Azure DNS's scalability is good and can scale even better for large enterprises. Our clients are mostly enterprise businesses.

Microsoft’s technical support for Azure DNS is very good.

Positive

Azure DNS's initial setup is very easy.

Just one engineer is required to deploy the solution within a few hours. Just one person is required for the solution's maintenance.

Azure DNS is a cheap solution, and I rate it a two out of ten for pricing. Azure DNS has a monthly licensing fee, and there are no additional costs besides the licensing cost.

We use the latest version of Azure DNS. Use Azure DNS if your primary journey is in Microsoft Azure. If you want to move to a hybrid or on-prem solution with Azure or AWS, try avoiding Azure DNS.

Overall, I rate Azure DNS an eight out of ten.

I am using Azure to host the DNS records.

I like the feature where I can add multiple DNS records for the same subdomain.

Domain registration is one of the problems. We need to go to application services or web apps to purchase the domain instead. If that were to be equivalent to AWS's Route 53 that would be good. But, it is not as flexible as that.

Also, there is no clear information on the functionality of Azure DNS or the features of Azure DNS. For example, there is no information provided on the DDI feature and whether it is available or not.

I have been using this solution for more than two years.

It is stable. We did not have an issue.

It is an easily scalable solution. I would the scalability a nine out of ten.

The support team is good. They support well and we don’t have to implement anything. Since we have a premium plan, the response time is probably less than one hour.

The initial setup is straightforward.

I deployed the hybrid version because the domains are posted somewhere, and I am using DNS on Azure.

I did the installation by myself as it is easy. 

The price is low and it's a reasonable price for that product.

I recommend the product to the users.

We use the solution to host IP addresses, sites like microsites. 

I would like to see more security features and protection. 

I have been working with the product for four years. 

The solution is stable. 

The product is scalable. 

I have used tech support only minimally. 

The solution's setup is okay. 

Consultants helped us with the solution's setup. 

I would rate the product an eight out of ten. 

We use the solution to manage domains.

It is a robust solution.

They should include more integration with other platforms.

We have been using the solution for one year.

It is a stable solution. I rate its stability as a ten.

Our organization has five solution users and plans to increase usage. It is very scalable.

The solution's technical support team is responsive.

The solution's initial setup process is easy and takes a few minutes to complete. The technical teams for deployment consist of administrators, system engineers, managers, and developers.

We take help from a third-party vendor to implement the solution.

The solution's price is reasonable. We purchase its yearly license.

I rate the solution as a nine.

There are two types of DNS. One is DNS which is provided by Azure itself. For example, if you have a testing environment, then you can use that. But if you have a hybrid environment where you link your on-premise with Azure Cloud using a VPN or an express route, then it is better you use the DNS. Not the DNS which is provided by Azure. It is called private DNS. So, you need to use the private DNS so that you can have entries for your on-premise systems as well. We call the named resolution works from on-premise as well. So in a nutshell, there are two DNS which is partly Azure. One is the normal DNS or public DNS service, which is partly Azure. And the second one is the private DNS service which clients can install and they can make use of it.

The most valuable feature is definitely the private one because the public one is generic and you cannot do much modification whereas the private one, allows you to make your own entries.

The technical support can be more knowledgeable.

I have been using the solution for four years.

The solution is very stable. We have not had any stability issues.

The solution is scalable. At the backend, Microsoft will have resiliency built into it. So, you don't have to worry about anything. You just deploy the Software as a Service. Then at the backend, Microsoft will take care of everything.

The technical support is the normal Microsoft tech support. If you have premium support with Microsoft, you can just create a ticket with them and it follows the normal Azure support hierarchy or procedure.

The initial setup is straightforward and not that complex. The software takes probably five to ten minutes to deploy but it is not about deployment, it's about the configuration. You need to configure it according to your environment.

The implementation was completed in-house.

The solution itself is free but you need to pay for the Microsoft Azure infrastructure and host your domains in Azure to use it.

I give the solution a nine out of ten.

I have worked with probably five, or six clients in the last two to three years in consulting. Almost every one of them is using Azure DNS.

I would say make use of Azure DNS. It is a very good solution. Rather than you try to build your own DNS. There are several ways you can build your own DNS. You can put your domain controller in Azure and install DNS on the domain controller because it is domain-integrated, Active Directory-integrated DNS. But that's not required now because there is DNS as a solution. So, you just deploy that service and you're up and running. Instead of putting your own servers in the cloud and trying to replicate your on-premise DNS, just make yourself a built-in DNS service.

We use the solution for some e-commerce sites that we use. It also integrates with our Kubernetes environment on Azure.

Azure DNS improves our integration with the Kubernetes environment. When we scale or increase our Kubernetes site, the tool updates DNS automatically. It saves us time and cost.

The integration with other services on Azure is valuable. We can create entries automatically by integrating other applications with Azure DNS.

The pricing must be made more clear. If I have multiple domains on Azure DNS, my billing is consolidated. I cannot see the number of connections and requests on each domain. The product must provide information on which DNS or application is consuming the most budget.

I have been using the solution for about two to three years. I am using the latest version of the solution.

I rate the tool’s stability a ten out of ten.

I rate the tool’s scalability a ten out of ten.

I did not need support.

Positive

We also use Amazon Route 53 and Cloudflare. We are consolidating our DNS services into one.

The solution is deployed on the cloud. The initial deployment was a little complex and a little straightforward.

The tool is a good investment.

I use Azure because I had used it previously in another company.

The product did not make any difference in our actual budget. If someone's cloud environment is on Azure, they can choose to use Azure DNS for managing their DNS. If they use Microsoft 365, integrating with Azure DNS will be valuable to them. Overall, I rate the solution a ten out of ten.

It's useful in hybrid Microsoft-based services where you need to sync your cloud and on-prem Active Directories or have publc-facing and private interfaces. For example, you're hosting an enterprise application at abc123.com. 

If you're running your enterprise application on Azure, it's convenient to use Azure DNS. It has native integration with other Azure solutions, and Microsoft is a globally recognized DNS provider. You also get CDN services. If you're a media company that requires on-demand data streaming, your DNS plays a vital role by working with CDN services to publish your application. It's cheaper and easier to expand your solution. 

The CDN integration could be improved.

I have used Azure DNS for two or three years. 

Azure DNS requires minimal setup. 

I rate Azure DNS eight out of 10 for affordability. It's cheaper than the native DNS solutions of the other cloud providers in the top three.

I rate Azure DNS seven out of 10.