Ddns alternative.

[DJones]

To preface this isn’t an issue I’m having at the moment just curious to learn of alternatives.

To avoid domains I was wondering if there is software that can do a sort if pseudo ddns. I’m sure in enterprise there might be something. But the way I imagine it is

Dynamic wan both sites.

Server site a - hosts vpn server
Server site b - vpn client

You want to know the current wan ip of site a, but you don’t want a public ddns domain. You’re fine with a third party to bridge the information required.

Third party would do what a ddns does with out the external domain. Because what you want is to point to an internal domain and have this pseudo ddns update that.

I could probably use tail scale and just make a virtualized network, but currently not utilizing that.

 

[eibgrad]

What I would probably do is establish the OpenVPN server as being remote to both networks, then establish OpenVPN clients on site A and B, and use the OpenVPN server as a gateway. You'd typically use a VPS and static IP (can probably be done for $5 a month). At least if YOU want to manage it all. Cloudflare works similarly, except they manage the server (and there might be other limitations, such as supported protocols).

If you manage it yourself, that same OpenVPN server can be further configured as a VPN client to the internet at large for the benefit of sites A and B (or even publicly roaming clients like your laptop or smartphone), thus potentially offsetting the cost of the VPS by eliminating the need for a commercial OpenVPN provider (e.g., NordVPN).

Something like Tailscale or ZeroTier are convenient, but like Cloudflare, you're introducing a third-party to the configuration. Granted, use of a VPS does too, but if I was concerned about third-parties (i.e., TNO (Trust No One)), I'd feel a bit better about a VPS where I still manage the server. Then again, it's a potential maintenance headache.

 

[DJones]

Awesome you’ve given me a couple of methods I can ponder about. I don’t like the idea of public facing domain names to my router as it defeats the point of wanting wan dynamic ip addresses to rotate basically just wanting less public facing stuff for a private network between sites. But yes vps, cloudflare or tailscale + openvpn server/client on both sides would work how I would like.

I guess my only concern would be would having two wan addresses cause me a bigger headache as if site a + b are facing one another they are essentially swapping wan addresses or using both?. Least that’s how I picture it using openvpn.

If something has to be public facing I’d rather it be a vps/cloudflare then a router.

 

[lgkahn]

you can also try adding entries in the etc/hosts and presumeably if the router is the server for your dhcp it should respond to queries for the entries in the host file.