Enter DNS Logging Coverage Inputs
Use this calculator to score DNS visibility across users, assets, locations, resolvers, cloud zones, retention, and field quality.
Example Data Table
| Environment | Total Queries | Logged Queries | Endpoint Coverage | Retention Days | Parser Success | Coverage Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Head Office | 1,100,000 | 1,040,000 | 94% | 180 | 98% | 93.4% |
| Remote Workforce | 420,000 | 315,000 | 78% | 120 | 95% | 76.1% |
| Branch Network | 560,000 | 470,000 | 82% | 150 | 93% | 79.7% |
| Cloud Zones | 390,000 | 300,000 | 83% | 150 | 96% | 78.8% |
Formula Used
Overall DNS Logging Coverage Score = Σ(Component Score × Weight) ÷ 100
The calculator uses these weighted components:
- Query Volume Coverage = Logged DNS Queries ÷ Total DNS Queries × 100
- Endpoint Coverage = Covered Endpoints ÷ Total Endpoints × 100
- Resolver Coverage = Logging Resolvers ÷ Total Resolvers × 100
- Remote User Coverage = Covered Remote Users ÷ Total Remote Users × 100
- Branch Coverage = Covered Branches ÷ Total Branches × 100
- Cloud Coverage = Logging Cloud Zones ÷ Total Cloud Zones × 100
- Critical Asset Coverage = Covered Critical Assets ÷ Total Critical Assets × 100
- Retention Adequacy = Actual Retention ÷ Target Retention × 100, capped at 100
- Field Completeness = Average of timestamp, query type, client attribution, and response code completeness
- Parser Success and Encrypted DNS Visibility are entered directly as percentage quality scores
Weights: Query 20%, Endpoints 12%, Resolvers 10%, Remote 8%, Branches 5%, Cloud 10%, Critical Assets 10%, Retention 7%, Parser 6%, Field Completeness 7%, Encrypted DNS Visibility 5%.
How to Use This Calculator
- Enter the assessment period label for your reporting window.
- Provide total and logged DNS query counts for the period.
- Add asset, resolver, branch, remote user, and cloud coverage totals.
- Enter retention targets, actual retention, parser success, and field completeness percentages.
- Estimate encrypted DNS visibility based on your current controls and telemetry sources.
- Click Calculate Coverage to view the score, gap, graph, and recommendations.
- Use the export buttons to download the result summary as CSV or PDF.
FAQs
1. What does DNS logging coverage measure?
It measures how much DNS activity your security team can actually observe, store, parse, and investigate across users, assets, locations, and platforms.
2. Why is query coverage weighted heavily?
Query coverage directly reflects how much DNS activity is recorded. Missing large query volumes can hide malicious lookups, beaconing, and command-and-control traffic.
3. Why include retention in the score?
Strong real-time visibility still fails if logs disappear too soon. Retention supports historical hunting, incident reconstruction, and delayed detections.
4. What is field completeness?
Field completeness measures whether important values like timestamps, query types, client identity, and response codes are preserved for analysis and correlation.
5. How should encrypted DNS visibility be estimated?
Estimate it from endpoint telemetry, resolver enforcement, policy controls, network egress controls, and any inspection or blocking applied to DoH or DoT traffic.
6. What score range is considered healthy?
Most teams should aim for at least 75%. Higher maturity programs often target 90% or more, especially for critical assets and high-risk users.
7. Can this calculator replace a telemetry audit?
No. It is a planning and benchmarking tool. You should still validate counts, pipelines, parser quality, and logging drift through operational reviews.
8. How often should coverage be reviewed?
Review it monthly, after infrastructure changes, and during major migrations. Frequent checks help catch logging drift before investigations are affected.