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The best DNS telemetry tool depends on where you need visibility: Pi-hole records requests that clients send to its resolver, Zeek logs DNS traffic visible to a network sensor, and Security Onion brings Zeek or Suricata metadata into a broader monitoring environment. None automatically sees every device or query. Your network layout, resolver settings, and sensor placement determine what you can collect.
Choose a collection model before choosing a tool
DNS telemetry can come from a resolver handling client requests or from a sensor observing network traffic. The distinction matters: resolver statistics show what reached that resolver, while passive logs show only traffic that reached the sensor. Choose based on the question you need to answer and whether your network can provide the necessary visibility.
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- Use Pi-hole when you want DNS service for clients and statistics about requests they send to it.
- Use Zeek when you need structured DNS and other protocol logs from traffic visible at a sensor.
- Consider Security Onion when DNS metadata is part of a wider network-security monitoring environment, rather than the only capability you need.
These are documented collection models, not comparative performance rankings. The available documentation does not provide comparable throughput, storage, cost, or setup-time figures.
Compare the tools
| Option | What it observes | Main dependency | Typical fit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pi-hole | DNS requests processed by its resolver | Configure clients or router DHCP to use Pi-hole | A small network that wants a DNS resolver and query statistics |
| Zeek | Network traffic visible at its sensor interface, or traffic in stored packet captures | Provide a live traffic feed or packet captures | A team needing passive protocol telemetry and structured logs for analysis |
| Security Onion | Network metadata and other documented visibility sources, including alerts, packet capture, and file analysis | Deploy and operate the platform and its sensor/data components | A team seeking broader network monitoring functions in one environment |
Per-device attribution depends on the collection path and topology in all three cases. Pi-hole needs requests to arrive with useful client identity; Zeek and Security Onion depend on the underlying sensor visibility. NAT can obscure which internal client originated traffic.
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Pi-hole: resolver-side DNS statistics
Pi-hole’s FTL component provides DNS service and an API for network-analysis data and statistics. Its view is limited to requests handled by Pi-hole; it is not passive monitoring of all network traffic. To send client requests there, configure the router’s DHCP settings to distribute Pi-hole as the DNS server. If the router cannot distribute DNS settings, Pi-hole’s setup guidance describes using Pi-hole’s DHCP service instead.
Pi-hole’s current prerequisites documentation lists minimum hardware requirements of 512 MB RAM and 2 GB of free space, and accepts a DHCP reservation for the static-address requirement. Those are software prerequisites, not performance guarantees or a recommended computer specification. Check the project’s supported distributions and processor architectures against the operating system and version you plan to use: Pi-hole prerequisites.
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Zeek: passive DNS and protocol logs
Zeek is a passive, open-source network traffic analyzer. Its DNS log can record observed origin and responder addresses and ports, transport protocol, query name and type, response code, and related transaction fields. Logs can be written as JSON or tab-separated data and processed by external systems. The key qualifier is observed: Zeek cannot log traffic its sensor does not receive. See the Zeek DNS log documentation and Zeek overview.
Feed the sensor the right traffic
In a small network, the sensor needs a copy of relevant traffic. Zeek’s monitoring guidance discusses a network tap or a managed switch configured with a SPAN port. It says a SPAN port is an acceptable alternative in a SOHO or test environment when a tap is unavailable. Review the network layout and the switch’s actual port-mirroring features before buying hardware; one convenient mirroring point may not cover every segment.
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Where the sensor sits changes the evidence it collects. A sensor after NAT may see several internal devices behind one shared source address, making client attribution difficult. A sensor connected only to a wired segment can miss other traffic, and Wi-Fi visibility depends on where the access point and switch sit in the topology. Zeek’s Monitoring With Zeek guide covers small-network placement.
Interpret logs as sensor observations
A Zeek DNS record describes a transaction visible at the sensor, not necessarily every lookup made by a device. Before treating logs as a complete account, verify that the sensor receives the relevant traffic and that the topology preserves the client identity you need. Passive visibility can also be affected by encrypted DNS; the cited documentation does not quantify that limitation, so do not assume a passive sensor reveals every query name.
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Security Onion: DNS as part of broader monitoring
Security Onion documents network metadata collection using Zeek or Suricata alongside capabilities such as alerting, packet capture, file analysis, and endpoint visibility. It may suit a security team that wants these functions in a wider environment rather than a DNS-only collector. Its DNS visibility still depends on the underlying traffic collection and network topology. The documentation establishes the capability mix, not installation effort or performance on small hardware: Security Onion documentation.
Plan for a small-network deployment
- Decide what you need to see. If you need statistics for requests handled by a DNS resolver, plan for Pi-hole and configure clients to use it. If you need passive network telemetry, plan for Zeek and a traffic feed. Choose Security Onion only if its broader monitoring functions fit the team’s needs.
- Map traffic paths. Identify wired and wireless segments, the router and NAT boundary, and where DNS requests leave clients. Decide whether one sensor location can see the traffic relevant to your question.
- Choose a traffic feed if using Zeek. Check for a network tap or a managed switch with SPAN/port mirroring, and confirm the feature can copy the intended traffic to the sensor. In small or test environments, Zeek identifies SPAN as an acceptable alternative when a tap is unavailable.
- Check client attribution. Determine whether the collection point will preserve useful client addresses. A point after NAT can collapse multiple internal clients into a shared address.
- Verify platform requirements. For Pi-hole, check its current operating-system and architecture support as well as the listed 512 MB RAM and 2 GB free-space minimums. No comparable minimum sensor hardware or capacity figures are established here for Zeek or Security Onion.
- Validate coverage before relying on the logs. Compare the traffic you expect to observe with what reaches the resolver or sensor. Treat missing visibility as a collection limitation, not proof that a device made no DNS request.
Hardware: what is supported by the documentation
The clearest hardware category for passive collection is a managed Ethernet switch with a SPAN or port-mirroring feature, used to copy traffic to a Zeek sensor. Confirm the switch’s mirroring capabilities and your topology before purchase. A switch does not solve visibility lost to NAT or guarantee wireless-client attribution.
A network tap is another way to provide traffic to a sensor, but Zeek’s guidance describes a reliable tap as typically beyond a home user’s budget and presents SPAN as an acceptable alternative for small or test environments. A small Linux-capable host may be used for Pi-hole, but that is a separate resolver-side use case; Pi-hole’s prerequisites do not establish a particular host as a Zeek sensor recommendation.
Quick Recap
What the available evidence does not establish
- There are no comparable performance, throughput, storage, or total-cost figures for these tools.
- There is no documented basis here for ranking them by speed, market share, ease of deployment, or setup time.
- Pi-hole’s stated hardware minimums are prerequisites, not guarantees of capacity under a particular workload.
- Encrypted DNS can reduce what a passive observer learns, but the cited sources do not quantify the effect for a particular network or protocol.
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