Network

Requirement for High Availability In the previous post , I talked about how I use Pi-hole for my DNS resolution. DNS is the core component for the internet to work, so if I were to be patching or rebooting the host running Pi-hole, no devices in my home network would be able to use the internet. A simple fix would be to run two separate hosts with Pi-hole, like another Raspberry Pi Zero. But, in both Windows and Linux based operating systems, I’ve seen issues where the time to switch to the secondary DNS when the primary goes down is a lot, and it leaves with a gap in time where the internet is still down for the end user. ...

What is Pi-hole? Pi-hole is a DNS sinkhole, used as a network-wide DNS level ad and malware blocker that works with domain blocklists and enforces it. The idea here is simple, you point it to blocklists that are available on the internet (it comes with one pre-enabled), and it takes care of preventing any of your devices from trying to reach those domains. Common examples are activity tracking websites and malware domains that should never be contacted. ...

Before moving to the next part, I thought it was relevant to have a background on what network architecture was backing all of this. I was never the person to take what an ISP would sell as a useless excuse of a modem/router, but I was still using a stock TP-Link router with reasonably good wireless and gigabit networking support. What I now have are two ISPs, both providing FTTH (fiber to the home). The first one provides 300Mbps symmetrical, and the second one reaches 200Mbps. Each has its ONT (Optical network terminal) and provides a gigabit port or two bundled with unusable WiFi. There is nothing I can do about this, but it is good enough for the job. ...