HydraDNS is a DNS-layer security and privacy gateway designed to run seamlessly on both lightweight hardware (Raspberry Pi, NUC) and cloud environments. It acts as a transparent DNS forwarder/resolver with built-in security, privacy, and policy enforcement.
- Intercepts DNS queries transparently
- Enforces security policies
- Blocks malware, phishing, trackers, and ads
- Provides administrators with clear reports and CLI-based management
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Multi-Deployment Ready Run directly on a Raspberry Pi connected to your router, or deploy as a containerized service in the cloud.
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Policy Enforcement Engine Define granular rules to allow, deny, or log queries. Protect networks from malware, phishing, spyware, and unwanted trackers.
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Ad & Spyware Blocking Built-in ad/tracker blocking powered by curated community and commercial blocklists.
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Blocklist Engine Import and update domain blocklists automatically, with caching for high-speed lookups.
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Shell Access & CLI Management Configure and control HydraDNS using a structured CLI shell, ideal for power users and automation.
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Central Controller & Admin Dashboard (EE) In enterprise deployments, a central dashboard provides unified policy management, visibility, and analytics across multiple sites.
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Logging & Monitoring
- Structured logging for observability.
- Anonymized client IPs (in CE) for privacy compliance.
- Extended logging in EE for enterprise auditing.
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Resilient & Performant
- Connection pool with multiple upstream resolvers for failover and load balancing.
- Real-time enforcement with sub-millisecond lookups.
- End-to-end DNS integrity with less than 5ms added latency.
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Privacy-First by Default DNS logs anonymize client IPs in the Community Edition. Support for encrypted upstream resolvers (DoH/DoT) is built in.
The open-source foundation includes:
- SQLite-backed policy storage
- Blocklists
- CLI shell
- Structured logging
- Docker deployment
The CE is aimed at adoption, transparency, and portfolio credibility while showcasing HydraDNS's core features.