Cloudflare has announced the general availability of Internal DNS, a solution that unifies authoritative and recursive DNS for private networks on Cloudflare's global network. This service integrates with Cloudflare's Zero Trust platform, enabling developers to manage internal DNS alongside public DNS, network policies, and security controls from a single pane of glass.
Key changes and features:
- Unified control plane: Internal DNS uses the same Cloudflare API and dashboard as other Cloudflare services. Developers can manage DNS records for private domains (e.g.,
int.example.com) viacurlor thecloudflareTerraform provider. - Private authoritative DNS: Define custom DNS zones for internal networks, resolving hostnames like
db.internal.example.comacross your connected resources, without exposing them to the public internet. - Private recursive DNS: Automatically resolve internal hostnames and forward them to your on-premises or cloud DNS servers, with built-in redundancy and low latency via Cloudflare's network.
- Zero Trust integration: Combine DNS policies with Cloudflare Gateway for granular access control. For example, block malicious domains or enforce mandatory DNS logging for internal traffic.
- Multi-cloud and hybrid support: Works with Cloudflare Magic WAN, Cloudflare Tunnel, and WARP client to resolve private DNS across data centers, AWS, Azure, GCP, and remote users.
- Simple setup: Create a private DNS zone and attach it to a virtual network (e.g.,
cf-vnet-dev). No need to deploy additional DNS servers or manage complex forwarding rules.
For developers, this means eliminating the operational overhead of running separate internal DNS infrastructure. Internal DNS reduces latency by serving queries from the nearest Cloudflare data center, and it strengthens security by binding DNS resolution to Zero Trust identity and device posture checks. It also simplifies debugging: all DNS logs are visible in the same dashboard as other Cloudflare analytics. Whether you're building microservices on Kubernetes, connecting branch offices, or securing remote access, Internal DNS provides a consistent, scalable approach to internal name resolution.