DNSViz vs RIPE Atlas

DNSViz is a free, open-source tool for visualizing DNS zone status and investigating DNSSEC deployment. It lays out a domain's authentication chain and resolution path, and identifies configuration errors. The graph can show delegations, record sets, negative responses, DNSKEY and DS records, signatures, wildcards, warnings and errors. It classifies DNS data as secure, bogus or insecure according to whether a trust chain reaches an anchor. The web service can run new analyses, but its maintenance mode means historical analyses cannot be loaded and new results cannot be saved to its database. For command-line use, the suite includes tools to query DNS, assess results and produce graph or text output. Queries use recursive resolvers by default, or authoritative servers when requested; graph output can be an image, DOT graph or HTML file. DNSViz documents installation on Linux, macOS and FreeBSD, among other Python-supported environments, and provides a Docker container. It is intended for understanding and troubleshooting DNSSEC, including pre-deployment checks of proposed zone and delegation changes.

RIPE Atlas is a global probe network for measuring Internet connectivity and reachability in real time. Most collected results are freely available to browse, download or use, including for people without a probe or RIPE NCC account. Users with enough credits can schedule their own ping, DNS, traceroute and SSL certificate measurements through the portal or API, with settings such as address family and interval. The network also runs built-in measurements automatically, some of which provide historical records spanning years. Eligible new users can claim a one-time grant of 50,000 free credits, while connected probe hosts earn credits. Probe-host applications are assessed by location; approved applicants receive a probe by post at no charge. Software probe options include Linux, Raspbian, Docker and OpenWRT. RIPE Atlas offers REST and streaming APIs, as well as command-line tools requiring Python. It is listed for web, API, Linux and macOS, with additional platform support including BSD and Turris; Windows is experimental. Probe IP addresses can appear in measurements, but personal email addresses are not shown.