DNSFilter Case Study

About DNSFilter

DNSFilter provides DNS filtering to customers all over the world, enabling them to block unwanted content and protect users from malicious threats. Their solution runs on an anycast BGP network with over 48 locations worldwide. With roughly 14,000 companies depending on DNSFilter, it’s important that they maintain 100% uptime while monitoring their network closely at all times.

Why did DNSFilter choose PerfOps?

When choosing a monitoring and testing solution for their anycast network, DNSFilter looked at PerfOps as well as their competition. While some of the other monitoring solutions out there are more generic, PerfOps is tailor-made for DNS and CDN networks.

What made PerfOps stand out was the ability for constant monitoring combined with the capability to drill down into the data. Unlike PerfOps competitors, PerfOps’ reporting is interactive, giving DNSFilter employees more context and insight into how their network is performing. This makes a PerfOps chart so much more useful than just a static chart.

Mike Schroll - CTO

A static chart means more work for the user, as they need to roll up their sleeves and determine what’s actually happening in the graph. PerfOps labels all of the data easily and highlights performance numbers that can then be examined individually.

DNSFilter also appreciated PerfOps’ intuitive interface. Navigating the tool and training others to use it was easy, so they were able to start using it quickly. Sharing access to other users at the company is as simple as giving them a new login and telling them where to go for the stats they were interested in.

The most important features for DNSFilter

Running a complex DNS network as big as DNSFilter’s comes with a unique set of variables. Because of this, 360° monitoring, instantaneous alerts, DNS testing, and transparency are imperative to their business.

Using PerfOps, DNSFilter can monitor their entire DNS anycast network so they have complete visibility at all times. This enables them to measure the performance of all of their servers at once, in comparison to one another, while also having the option to examine each server individually.

Mike Schroll - CTO

Having this type of visibility into their network allows them to notice inconsistencies and identify sinkholes in their network. Then they can debug immediately if necessary, or stop any possible issues before they become a bigger problem.

By implementing tests through PerfOps, the DNSFilter team can test network changes before deploying them to their users. This significantly reduces the possibility of downtime or any decrease in performance that could occur without a solution like this in place.

DNSFilter also likes the transparency that PerfOps has built into their product through their public-facing DNSPerf website.

Speed is a huge factor in running an anycast network for DNS filtering, as it can cause some latency for end users. DNSFilter uses PerfOps analytics to improve its speed, and in turn has a place to send prospects and customers interested in seeing live performance data for DNSFilter’s network.

DNSFilter Team

But while the features are impressive, what’s more impressive to DNSFilter is the continued work PerfOps puts into their product. “In our field, it’s very common that people stop product development once their tool has all the features that are needed,” Mike said. “They don’t spend the time to make the interface pleasant to use. PerfOps not only created a pleasant-to-use interface, but they work with customers like us to see what they can do to make their product better.”