PowerDNS

PowerDNS is an authoritative nameserver (distinct from the PowerDNS Recursor) that can be described as a core nameserver engine that utilizes one or more backends. Those backends support a myriad of database platforms and different nameserver emulators.

For example, there is a BIND backend to PowerDNS, which lets you run your server with native BIND-style zonefiles.

You can specify multiple backends and a query will be attempted in each backend, in order, until a match is found.

Finally, the end user can code their own custom backends for PowerDNS, making it one of the most versatile of the prime-time-ready nameservers we've ever worked with.

Things to know

The ANY qtype has special importance to powerdns.

Assume that the ANY qtype is used internally on essentially every inbound query. That is, when PowerDNS receives a query from the outside world, when it relays that query to a given backend, the qtype the backend sees is almost always ANY.

The backend will process the ANY query and send...