DynDNS.org is a DNS and Web Redirection Service that has been offering its services free for quite a few years, much like the services that Monolith (ml.org) used to offer before it went under. Dynamic DNS Network Services, LLC, is their official business name and they offer domain redirection to both owners of static and dynamic IPs. They depend on the free-will donations of its users to stay afloat and support hosting costs. However, they offer special services above and beyond their basic ones to those who donate. They are also entirely RFC 1149 and RFC 2549 compliant. I have been using them for over 3 years and have never run into any problems with visitors of my server not getting properly directed.
Features & Services
Features of their services include DNS services for .com and .co.uk TLDs, or subdomains of domains that Dyndns.org already owns - such as you.dyndns.org or you.ath.cx. Their system allows users of their service to update via their web interface or via automated clients. One can configure various subdomains of a domain you own and have them point to same or different IPs. Users can also create CNAME and MX records, or plain old HTTP website redirections for those who use free hosting services or who have no domain. They have five separate DNS servers operating in four geographically different areas to ensure that visitors of your site/server never miss a beat. Their service makes the DNS simple, so that you don't have to be familiar with messy technical details nor own a copy of DNS and Bind. There are tons of other features that their service offers to users, some available only to those who donate to keep them afloat.
Domains Available
If you don't own your own domain, dyndns.org has quite a selection of domains of which you can have a subdomain. If you happen across servers with these addresses, the friendly folks at DynDNS are behind the scenes providing the domain. These are:
- ath.cx
- dnsalias.com
- dnsalias.net
- dnsalias.org
- dyndns.biz
- dyndns.info
- dyndns.org - of course
- dyndns.tv
- dyndns.ws
- gotdns.com
- gotdns.org
- homedns.org
- homeftp.net
- homeftp.org
- homeip.net
- homelinux.com
- homelinux.net
- homelinux.org
- homeunix.com
- homeunix.net
- homeunix.org
- is-a-geek.com
- is-a-geek.net
- is-a-geek.org
- isa-geek.com
- isa-geek.net
- isa-geek.org
- kicks-ass.net
- kicks-ass.org
- merseine.nu
- mine.nu
- serveftp.net
- serveftp.org
- shacknet.nu
Dyndns.org is quite reliable and their services can't be beat for being mostly free. According to them, they've had 100.000% of uptime since May 2001. For their services that require a donation, the cost is very nominal and with their backup servers and professional handling of traffic, they are very realiable. As I had said before, I've been using them for over 3 years and have had nothing but excellent service from them.
Noded at the recommendation of editor to replace about 3 one-line writeups that were once here.