
Google Public DNS - dfreidin
http://code.google.com/speed/public-dns/
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chrisbolt
One of the problems with using 'public' DNS servers like Google and OpenDNS is
that content delivery networks return the IPs of their nodes that are closest
to your DNS servers based on the assumption that you are on the same network
as your DNS servers.

I just did a comparison and I am 10ms away from the Akamai node returned by my
ISP's DNS servers, 88ms away from the node returned by Google Public DNS, and
20ms away from the node returned by OpenDNS. Even if DNS is faster, it may
make everything else slower...

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jiaaro
That may be true...

but I am willing to _sacrifice a few hundred ms_ to avoid the several seconds
of frustration when typing 'gmail' into the firefox address bar gets me
__redirected to some stupid ass ISP specific SERPs page __=D

~~~
mechanical_fish
Do you have any idea how confused I was the first time that happened? An
absolutely terrible user experience.

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lsb
Phone support!

    
    
      Google Public DNS telephone support
      877-590-4367 in the U.S.
      770-200-1201 outside the U.S.
    

I wonder if this will be a trend.

~~~
kirubakaran
Just an automated dude telling you what you already know or can find easily on
the web. You can't reach a human at that number, at least for now.

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Subgun
More data mining by google under the guise of global awesomeness.

The point most people miss is that all of your habits and information are
under one roof and only need one subpoena to get your entire electronic life
on DVD. This just adds to what they already know about your searching,
emailing , communicating and spending.

~~~
nuggien
Yea, because your ISP totally wouldn't do the same thing.

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Tichy
I suppose the ISP can do that anyway, no matter what you do. Even if you use
Google DNS, your ISP can still know where you surf to.

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cscotta
It's an interesting idea, but based on some early tests it looks like a losing
bet to me.

My ping from a dedicated 15mb Qwest circuit to 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4 is between
57ms and 75ms. However, cached DNS resolutions run at around 12ms from our
default DNS servers. Even uncached resolutions are still way faster than the
round-trip to Google.

Google Public DNS might be worth it if every single one of your DNS queries
would result in a cache miss, but otherwise I don't see the performance
improvement Google is gunning for.

That said, it is nice to have a public option.

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windsurfer
That's funny. I'm with Rogers in Canada, and their DNS requests can take 2000
ms on a normal day.

~~~
sp332
That's not funny.

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eli
In addition to speeding up the internet for everyone, there's a specific
benefit to google: <http://code.google.com/speed/public-dns/privacy.html>

They can crunch the data on queries and infer which sites are popular (and in
what geographic regions they're popular).

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boundlessdreamz
I tested this and it is consistently offering better results than OpenDNS and
4.2.2.2. The results are here [http://www.manu-j.com/blog/opendns-alternative-
google-dns-ro...](http://www.manu-j.com/blog/opendns-alternative-google-dns-
rocks/403/)

How are the results from inside US ?

~~~
known
They are better than 4.2.2.2 in USA.

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eli
Neat. They even got memorable IP addresses.

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carl_
OpenDNS on GoogleDNS is worth a read:

<http://blog.opendns.com/2009/12/03/opendns-google-dns/>

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chrischen
I always hated the redirection my ISP's DNS and OpenDNS forces. Every time I
make a typo, i have to completely retype the URL because they redirect me...

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MoeDrippins
I've used OpenDNS since they became publicly known and have never gotten a
redirect that I can remember. Did I configure that somehow?

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wglb
Try a typo or a completely incorrect domain name.

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todd3834
Now Google can make cash off typo domains by turning it into a Google search
and hopefully earning some sponsor link clicks. Not a bad idea. I wonder if
they are going to record requested URLs so they know which ones have high
traffic to spider more often... I can see a lot of reasons why Google would
want to offer this.

~~~
moon_of_moon
More like record every URL you visit, and use the content of those websites to
determine intent, and then target ads accordingly.

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sgk284
Eh, I don't know if they'll be able to do that too effectively because of NAT
and whatnot, but they can certainly use this information in their PageRank
calculation. Knowing what pages people visit is an even bigger vote of
confidence for the site than seeing how many pages link to it.

~~~
moon_of_moon
Assume you are logged in or you have a gmail cookie, hell yeah they know.

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inklesspen
You're aware that HTTP cookies are not sent to DNS servers, yes?

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moon_of_moon
Yes. I meant if you're not behind a NAT they can correlate your IP with your
gmail cookie when you do a search and thereby link a record of the sites you
are visiting to your profile to serve you more targeted ads. Apologies for the
ambiguity.

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Mathnerd314
Next up: Google Public ISP

(vertical integration)

