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Oxide propagates DNS changes asynchronously from CockroachDB through Nexus

davepacheco.net 7 min read Editor score 7/10

Nexus writes DNS configuration to CockroachDB, then background tasks propagate changes to DNS servers and periodically retry to handle missed wakeups or transient failures. The design illustrates how a control plane reconciles distributed service state.

What: Oxide's DNS configuration comes from CockroachDB, and Nexus propagates changes to in-service DNS servers asynchronously.
How: Nexus updates the database, then background tasks propagate configuration after change events and periodically to handle missed wakeups or failures.
Why it matters: Separating the source of truth from asynchronous propagation makes visibility into configuration versions and per-server results important for debugging.

Nexus updates DNS configuration and background tasks propagate it from the database to DNS servers. Sketched from the article's own text.

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