Question

Does DigitalOcean's DDOS protection require that DO's nameserver be used?

Posted on January 12, 2024
Security
Asked by Arnold Layne

I am thinking of running a website from my DigitalOcean (DO) droplet.

I understand DO has DDOS protection.

Does this protection apply (a) only when the domain’s name servers are that of DO or (b) also when the name servers are elsewhere but only the “A” record points to DO?

Thanks.

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Bobby Iliev

Site Moderator

• January 12, 2024

Accepted Answer

Hi there,

DigitalOcean provides DDoS protection for its infrastructure, including Droplets, which is independent of where your domain’s name servers are hosted.

This protection is designed to mitigate the impact of large-scale attacks on the network layer, ensuring that DigitalOcean’s services, including your droplet, remain accessible during such events.

To address your specific questions:

(a) Only when the domain’s name servers are that of DO: No, DigitalOcean’s DDoS protection does not require you to use DigitalOcean’s name servers. The protection is provided at the infrastructure level, covering all droplets regardless of where the domain is managed or where its name servers are hosted.

(b) Also when the name servers are elsewhere but only the “A” record points to DigitalOcean: Yes, the DDoS protection will still be effective. As long as your website’s “A” record points to a DigitalOcean droplet, the traffic to your website will benefit from DigitalOcean’s network layer DDoS protection. This is because the protection is applied to the infrastructure that hosts your droplet, not the DNS service managing your domain.

However, it’s important to note a few things:

DigitalOcean’s DDoS protection primarily focuses on mitigating large-scale network attacks. It does not replace the need for application-level security measures on your droplet.
If you are using a third-party DNS provider, you’ll need to manage DNS-related security (like DNS DDoS attacks) through that provider or another service.
While DigitalOcean provides basic DDoS protection, for more advanced needs, you might consider additional security services or specialized DDoS mitigation tools like the Cloudflare free DDoS service.

Hope that this helps!

Best,

Bobby