The Rise of Encrypted SNI (ESNI) and Encrypted Client Hello (ECH)

The Rise of Encrypted SNI (ESNI) and Encrypted Client Hello (ECH) — a concise, practical guide focused on real-world admin scenarios. We skip jargon and show commands you can run today.

Quick intro

This section frames the core idea and when to use it. You’ll see how it affects latency, reliability, and security choices.

Hands‑on example

dig pingtoolnet.com A +trace
nslookup -query=TXT pingtoolnet.com 1.1.1.1

Checklist

1. When debugging, change one variable at a time.
2. Document changes with timestamps so you can line them up with resolver logs.
3. Always record TTLs — they explain most ‘inconsistent’ DNS behavior.
4. Test from multiple resolvers (ISP, 1.1.1.1, 8.8.8.8) to spot caching issues.
5. Prefer `dig` for advanced flags; keep `nslookup` for quick checks.