Cloudflare 1.1.1.1 Incident & Why We Build Resilient DNS

Hello tech fam — let’s talk real for a sec about what went down on July 14, 2025. Cloudflare’s 1.1.1.1 had an incident (read about it here) that sent ripples across the internet. Users everywhere saw websites timing out, apps refusing to load, and services going dark. Even giants stumble sometimes — that’s the internet for ya.

But here’s the thing: incidents like this are exactly why I architect all my client networks with resilience baked in.

What Happened with Cloudflare?

Cloudflare’s 1.1.1.1 resolver, known for blazing speed and privacy, hit a snag due to a bad software deployment. For several hours, DNS lookups failed or returned errors. And since DNS is basically the internet’s phonebook, no DNS = no sites, no apps, no nada.

Takeaway: Even the biggest players can—and will—have outages.

My DNS Trio: Cloudflare + Google + Quad9

I’m all about networks that don’t fall apart when one provider trips up. My go-to DNS lineup looks like this:

• Cloudflare (1.1.1.1, 1.0.0.1) — Fast, privacy-first, global reach. But not bulletproof, as we saw.
• Google Public DNS (8.8.8.8, 8.8.4.4) — Rock solid, widely trusted, and a perfect fallback.
• Quad9 (9.9.9.9, 149.112.112.112) — Adds security by blocking known malicious domains.

Instead of depending on a single provider, I configure systems to query all three. If one goes down, traffic automatically shifts to the others. No drama, no downtime.

Our Secret Weapon: Custom DNS & Technitium

Beyond public resolvers, I layer in custom solutions for true resilience:

• Active Directory DNS — For local name resolution inside Windows networks.
• Technitium DNS — Flexible, powerful, and can:
  • Forward queries to Cloudflare, Google, and Quad9.
  • Balance requests across those providers.
  • Fall back directly to root DNS servers if all else fails.

This multi-layered approach ensures my clients stay online even during DNS chaos. It’s all about redundancy and control.

Why It Matters

If your only DNS provider goes offline, your entire digital world can grind to a halt. Email, cloud apps, websites—all gone. Outages like the one on July 14 remind us that smart networking is about more than speed. It’s about reliability.

My mission? Keep my clients online, no matter who’s having a bad day on the internet.

Let’s keep the web rolling, fam.

Need help making your business network bulletproof? Reach out — I’m all about future-proofing your digital world.

Eric Bouvier | EJB Technology Support, LLC