articles/dnsvizor01.md

@@ -1,107 +0,0 @@
----
-date: 2024-10-25
-title: "Meet DNSvizor: run your own DHCP and DNS MirageOS unikernel"
-description:
-  The NGI-funded DNSvizor provides core network services on your network; DNS resolution and DHCP.
-tags:
-  - OCaml
-  - MirageOS
-  - DNSvizor
-author:
-  name: Hannes Mehnert
-  email: hannes@mehnert.org
-  link: https://hannes.robur.coop
----
-
-TL;DR: We got [NGI0 Entrust (via NLnet)](https://nlnet.nl/entrust/) funding for developing
-[DNSvizor](https://nlnet.nl/project/DNSvizor/) - a DNS resolver and
-DHCP server. Please help us by [sharing with us your dnsmasq
-configuration](https://github.com/robur-coop/dnsvizor/issues/new), so we can
-prioritize the configuration options to support.
-
-## Introduction
-
-The [dynamic host configuration protocol (DHCP)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dynamic_Host_Configuration_Protocol)
-is fundamental in today's Internet and local networks. It usually runs on your
-router (or as a dedicated independent service) and automatically configures
-computers that join your network (for example wireless laptops, smartphones)
-with an IP address, routing information, a DNS resolver, etc. No manual
-configuration is needed once your friends' smartphone got the password of your
-wireless network \o/
-
-The [domain name system (DNS)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domain_Name_System)
-is responsible for translating domain names (such as "robur.coop", "nlnet.nl")
-to IP addresses (such as 193.30.40.138 or 2a0f:7cc7:7cc7:7c40::138) - used by
-computers to talk to each other. Humans can remember domain names instead of
-memorizing IP addresses. Computers then use DNS to translate these domain names
-to IP addresses to communicate with. DNS is a hierarchic, distributed,
-faul-tolerant service.
-
-These two protocols are fundamental to today's Internet: without them it would
-be much harder for humans to use it.
-
-## DNSvizor
-
-We at [robur](https://robur.coop) got funding (from
-[NGI0 Entrust via NLnet](https://nlnet.nl/project/DNSvizor/)) to continue our work on
-[DNSvizor](https://github.com/robur-coop/dnsvizor) - a
-[MirageOS unikernel](https://mirageos.org) that provides DNS resolution and
-DHCP service for a network. This is fully implemented in
-[OCaml](https://ocaml.org).
-
-Already at our [MirageOS retreats](https://retreat.mirageos.org) we deployed
-such unikernel, to test our [DHCP implementation](https://github.com/mirage/charrua)
-and our [DNS resolver](https://github.com/mirage/ocaml-dns) - and found and
-fixed issues on-site. At the retreats we have a very limited Internet uplink,
-thus caching DNS queries and answers is great for reducing the load on the
-uplink.
-
-Thanks to the funding we received, we'll be able to work on improving the
-performance, but also to finish our DNSSec implementation, provide DNS-over-TLS
-and DNS-over-HTTPS services, and also a web interface. DNSvizor will use the
-existing [dnsmasq](https://thekelleys.org.uk/dnsmasq/doc.html) configuration
-syntax, and provide lots of features from dnsmasq, and also provide features
-such as block lists from [pi-hole](https://pi-hole.net/).
-
-We are at a point where the [basic unikernel (our MVP)](https://github.com/robur-coop/dnsvizor)
-- providing DNS and DHCP services - is ready, and we provide
-[reproducible binary builds](https://builds.robur.coop/job/dnsvizor). Phew. This
-means that the first step is done. The `--dhcp-range` from dnsmasq is already
-being parsed.
-
-We are now curious on concrete usages of dnsmasq and the configurations you use.
-If you're interested in dnsvizor, please [open an issue at our repository](https://github.com/robur-coop/dnsvizor/issues/new)
-with your dnsmasq configuration. This will help us to guide which parts of the configuration to prioritize.
-
-## Usages of DNSvizor
-
-We have several use cases for DNSvizor:
-- at your home router to provide DNS resolution and DHCP service, filtering ads,
-- in the datacenter auto-configuring your machine park,
-- when running your unikernel swarm to auto-configure them.
-
-The first one is where pi-hole as well fits into, and where dnsmasq is used quite
-a lot. The second one is also a domain where dnsmasq is used. The third one is
-from our experience that lots of people struggle with deploying MirageOS
-unikernels since they have to manually do IP configuration etc. We ourselves
-also pass additional information to the unikernels, such as syslog host,
-monitoring sink, X.509 certificates or host names, do some DNS provisioning, ...
-
-With DNSvizor we will leverage the common configuration options of all
-unikernels (reducing the need for boot arguments), and also go a bit further
-and make deployment seamless (including adding hostnames to DNS, forwarding
-from our reverse TLS proxy, etc.).
-
-## Conclusion
-
-[DNSvizor](https://github.com/robur-coop/dnsvizor) provides DNS resolution and
-DHCP service for your network, and [already exists](https://builds.robur.coop/job/dnsvizor) :).
-Please [report issues](https://github.com/robur-coop/dnsvizor/issues/) you
-encounter and questions you may have. Also, if you use dnsmasq, please
-[show us your configuration](https://github.com/robur-coop/dnsvizor/issues/new).
-
-If you're interested in MirageOS and using it in your domain, don't hesitate
-to reach out to us (via eMail: team@robur.coop) - we're keen to deploy MirageOS
-and find more domains where it is useful. If you can
-[spare a dime](https://robur.coop/Donate), we're a registered non-profit in
-Germany - and can provide tax-deductable receipts in Europe.