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mfx
Asked: 2009-06-26 14:33:06 +0800 CST

How to minimise bind9 memory footprint?

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I'm running bind 9.5.1 on debian lenny. Unfortunately the machine does not have a lot of memory (only 500MB) and with apache, db and mailserver this is getting tight. Currently bind takes about 10% and is the top consumer of memory - any clues to diminish this? Already cut down on cache, can't really find more options. Perhaps alternative dns server? It only serves a couple domains.

domain-name-system debian memory bind

2 Answers

  1. Best Answer

    Yeah, BIND is a memory hog. Personally, I'm a fan of tinydns part of djbdns for low-memory footprint DNS service. It's not like BIND at all in terms of config and management, but it's damn small, quite fast, and once you get used to it, I think it's better than BIND in many ways.

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  2. Are you using bind for authoritative hosting of domains, or for a caching resolver?

    If for authoritative hosting, turn off recursion (there's no need for a cache if you're not doing recursion); or try tinydns.

    If for caching/recursive lookups, then give a lighter caching resolver a shot (like dnscachex).

    Failing that, third-party DNS hosting is readily available.

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