Pi-hole
| Pi-hole
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|---|---|
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 Admin interface of Pi-hole |
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| Basic data
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| Publishing year | June 15, 2015 |
| Current version |
5.1.2 ( August 9, 2020 ) |
| programming language | Bourne-again shell |
| License | European Union Public License |
| pi-hole.net | |
Pi-hole is free software with the function of a tracking and ad blocker as well as an optional DHCP server . Pi-hole is based on a Linux system and has been developed for use on small computers in the sense of an embedded system . It is widely used on computers from the Raspberry Pi series. The software is integrated into an existing network as a DNS server and is therefore available to all devices in the network whose DNS settings can be configured.
functionality
The system with the Pi-hole software is integrated as a DNS server in an existing, mostly smaller, private computer network. It takes on the task of resolving domain requests from the connected clients and converting them into IP addresses. On the basis of exclusion lists from known advertising or tracking domains and user-defined exclusion lists, requests are either forwarded to other configurable DNS servers or, if a requested domain exists in an exclusion list, a technically unusable IP address is delivered to the client (so-called DNS sinkhole ). By sending an unusable IP address to the client, the client cannot access the requested domain and consequently cannot access advertising and / or tracking content.
Since in a small network the clients receive the address of the DNS server to be queried from the DHCP server in addition to their own local IP address, there are three different ways in which a Pi-hole can be integrated into an existing network:
- Reconfiguration of the DHCP server (in small private networks this task is usually taken over by the router) so that all clients are referred to the device with the Pi-hole software as standard DNS servers,
- Shutdown of the previous DHCP server and activation of the DHCP server integrated in the Pi-hole software, which then refers to itself as the standard DNS server or
- the individual DNS configuration of individual devices within the local network.
Hardware requirements
The hardware requirements are low. A Raspberry Pi zero is sufficient for operation in a private network.
Technical limits
Filtering is only carried out if this has been predefined using exclusion lists. The Pi-hole software does not contain any functions that check the content of the requested content.
Furthermore, filtering only takes place on the basis of domain names. Advertising or tracking code that is already called up on the client side by accessing specific IPs and therefore does not require a DNS request, cannot be influenced by the Pi-hole software.
literature
- Filter berries: c't 11/2018, p. 144
- Privacy upgrade : c't 15/2018, p. 174
- PC Magazin (online): Review
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Release 5.1.2 . August 9, 2020 (accessed August 14, 2020).
- ↑ MacLife from August 17, 2018: Raspberry Pi for Apple fans: The ultimate do-it-yourself ad blocker