Managed DNS

DNS ownership, automation, and change control as a supporting infrastructure add-on

Managed DNS is a supporting infrastructure add-on for platform environments where domain ownership, record changes, delegated zones, failover behavior, and automation need operational discipline. It is scoped around a consulting, platform, or managed-services engagement rather than sold as a generic unlimited DNS hosting promise.

Best-fit use cases#

Use case	Why managed DNS fits
DNS ownership is unclear	Domains, delegated zones, registrar access, and provider permissions need documented ownership
Migration between providers	TTL planning, validation, cutover, and rollback reduce the risk of broken production traffic
Multi-cloud or hybrid routing	Records span cloud providers, edge services, customer networks, and Assistance-operated components
CI/CD or Kubernetes automation	ExternalDNS, Terraform, or GitOps can automate records without bypassing review controls
Certificate dependency	DNS validation, ACME flows, and certificate renewal depend on reliable DNS access

What Assistance operates#

Area	Included responsibility
Assessment	Domain inventory, registrar and provider access review, zone structure, critical records, TTLs, and ownership gaps
Provider setup	Route 53, Cloudflare, Azure DNS, Google Cloud DNS, PowerDNS, BIND, or existing provider configuration where scoped
Change control	Record changes, delegated zones, validation, TTL planning, rollback notes, and change communication
Security	DNSSEC planning, access control recommendations, audit logs, least-privilege provider credentials, and registrar lock guidance
Automation	Terraform, GitOps, ExternalDNS, API workflows, and CI/CD integration where they fit the operating model
Monitoring	Resolution checks for critical records, provider health awareness, and escalation notes for DNS-related incidents

DNS availability depends on provider and scope

Assistance can operate DNS configuration and change control, but provider SLA, registrar behavior, parent-zone delegation, and customer-owned network paths remain separate responsibilities unless explicitly contracted.

Supported environments#

AWS Route 53
Cloudflare DNS
Azure DNS
Google Cloud DNS
PowerDNS
BIND
Registrar-hosted DNS where API and access controls are suitable
Delegated service zones for platform, staging, CI, and internal environments

Management process#

1. DNS assessment#

We inventory domains, zones, providers, registrars, critical records, delegated zones, automation, owner contacts, and current failure modes.

2. Target operating model#

We define provider responsibilities, access model, naming conventions, TTL policy, DNSSEC posture, automation boundaries, and change process.

3. Migration or cleanup#

Assistance migrates zones, cleans up stale records, introduces delegated zones, or converts selected records to infrastructure as code with a rollback plan.

4. Operate and review#

We manage agreed DNS changes, monitor critical resolution paths, review access periodically, and coordinate DNS-dependent certificate or platform work.

Managed Certificates — TLS issuance, renewal, DNS validation, and certificate hygiene
Managed GitLab — Delivery-platform domains, SSH endpoints, registry hosts, and runner callbacks
Managed K3s — Lightweight Kubernetes environments that need service DNS and ingress records
Managed Prometheus — Monitoring for DNS-dependent platform endpoints

Getting started#

Request a DNS assessment. We will review ownership, providers, critical records, automation needs, and change-control risks before proposing an operating scope.

Request DNS assessment →