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Possible Duplicate:
Google's DNS service: Google public DNS

I was asked to put 8.8.8.8 as an alternative DNS server.

Through whois I found that the IP address corresponds to the host google-public-dns-a.google.com.

Why should I use it? What could be the benefit?

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    Related: superuser.com/q/387034/79358
    – Diogo
    May 14, 2012 at 13:35
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    Also see superuser.com/q/78743/49184 for info on Google's DNS service.
    – Daniel Andersson
    May 14, 2012 at 13:44
  • If you are curious to see which DNS service is fastest for you try namebench code.google.com/p/namebench
    – qroberts
    May 14, 2012 at 14:00
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    I like DNS Benchmark....grc.com/dns/benchmark.htm
    – Moab
    May 14, 2012 at 14:54
  • Who asked you this? (aside: this is why the passive voice is bad :) If it was someone at work, there could be multiple reasons. If it was a technical support agent then they went with 8.8.8.8 because it was quicker and less prone to error, than looking up your ISP's DNS server addresses.
    – username
    Jun 9, 2012 at 12:36

2 Answers 2

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It is just another DNS server option.

Actually, it is the DNS server of Google, it means that Google provides the DNS and maintenance of this service, which means it is "more reliable" than some another DNS servers due to the fact that is maintained by one of the biggest IT companies of the world.

Also, according to Wikipedia, Google DNS provides some security functions that other DNS haven't:

The service does not use third party DNS management software such as BIND, instead relying on a custom-built implementation, with limited IPv6 support, conforming to the DNS standards set forth by the IETF. It also only partially supports the DNSSEC protocol.

Some popular DNS providers practice a form of DNS hijacking while processing queries,causing web browsers to redirect to an advertisement site run by the provider when a nonexistent domain name is entered, explicitly breaking the DNS specification. In contrast, Google's service correctly replies with an NXDOMAIN code in this situation, and as a result, many users are now using the service for this reason alone

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    Only proper answer at this moment! Well done
    – Pylsa
    May 14, 2012 at 13:57
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    @DiogoRocha +1 I think it was answered correctly, here is the question "Why should I use it? What could be the benefit?" key word being "could", its a very subjective question asking for opinions. The question should be closed not the answer.
    – Moab
    May 14, 2012 at 14:53
  • @Moab - there's nothing subjective about using the word "could". Just because using a well-resourced IT company's DNS could result in better performance, does not mean this is subjective. It's a logical possibility based on real world facts. There seems to be a team of people at Stack Exchange who try to close as many questions as possible and have succeeded in closing some of the most useful and popular questions on the exchange. Let's try to be as helpful as possible.
    – NeilG
    Apr 21, 2020 at 2:58
  • "does not use third party DNS management software such as BIND, instead relying on a custom-built implementation" if anything, seems like a reason not to use it.
    – Alois Mahdal
    Feb 11 at 15:35
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My guess would be that your office/office's ISP is having issues with their name server. They are advising you to have a second name server specified to prevent issues in the event the primary goes down.

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