ISP FAQ | Safe Surfer

ISP FAQ

Frequently asked questions about the Safe Surfer platform for ISPs.

Do I run my own Safe Surfer instance or do you run it for me?

Either! We can manage an instance for you, or provide all your IT team needs to run one themselves. Just contact us to get started.

Do I need to use Kubernetes?

Yes, although you can deploy the DNS servers elsewhere, such as servers within your own infrastructure. Kubernetes ensures a consistent environment across different clouds, and along with Helm makes Safe Surfer simple to install and upgrade.

What happens if my cloud provider has an outage?

If your DNS servers are hosted inside your infrastructure, then internet access will not be disrupted. Users or admins will just be unable to view the dashboard or admin dashboard. If all DNS servers are in the cloud and are affected by the outage, internet access will be disrupted. However, you can deploy many different DNS clusters for high availability, making this scenario unlikely.

What is the router API and how do I deploy it?

In most circumstances, the router API needs to be deployed for per-client device DNS filtering, browsing history, and screentime. Without the router API, you can achieve per-network/per-household filtering, and sometimes per-client device features if you have central control of router DHCP server settings.

The router API is a binary that runs a DNS proxy, smart firewall, HTTP API, and optionally a UI. We can provide a fully whitelabeled solution for devices that support OpenWRT, or a pre-configured binary for other firmware build processes.