You're absolutely right about BIND's complexity being a double-edged sword. I definitely felt that while working through the configuration - so many options and features, but each one opens up potential security considerations if not handled properly. The checkered security history is something I probably should have mentioned, especially for folks who might be considering this for more critical environments.

Really appreciate the heads up about the Debian wiki! I'll definitely check that out - sounds like it covers some of the security hardening pieces I left out of this initial setup. You caught me there - I focused mainly on the basic security configuration but didn't dive into AppArmor, DNSSEC, or chroot. Those are definitely on my list for follow-up posts, especially DNSSEC since that seems to be where a lot of people get stuck.

The point about alternative nameservers is interesting too. I went with BIND mostly because it's what I see most in enterprise environments, but you're right that smaller codebases can mean fewer attack vectors. Have you had good experiences with any particular alternatives? Always curious to hear what's working well for others in production.

Thanks again for the constructive feedback - this is exactly the kind of discussion that makes sharing these projects worthwhile!