Folks in the IT realm looking for a nifty solution to keep your local network squeaky clean from ads, malware, and suspicious domains, listen up! The open-source project "Blocky," crafted in good ol' Go, is here to save your day. This bad boy is a fast and lightweight DNS proxy doubling as an ad-blocker, armed with a ton of cool features that'll give those pesky ads the boot and much more. So, what makes Blocky the bee's knees? For starters, it's got sophisticated blocking capabilities that let you define specific allow/deny lists for different client groups. Got kids darting around the house or some smart gadgets hooked up? No sweat. Blocky lets you set up customized rules to keep things in check. And hey, it's got regex support and does some deep CNAME inspection to block domains and responses that shouldn’t be getting through. But don’t peg Blocky as just another ad-blocker. It goes above and beyond with advanced DNS configuration. Need custom DNS resolutions for certain domains? Done. Want conditional forwarding to external DNS servers? You got it. You can even define upstream resolvers for different client groups. This versatility lets you tailor DNS responses to fit your exact needs. Speeding things up, Blocky improves your network's performance by caching DNS answers for faster resolution and prefetching those widely used queries. Running on a low memory footprint, it can handle multiple external resolvers like a champ, ensuring your network stays snappy. Blocky’s not just about speed, though—it’s about keeping things secure and private. Supporting cutting-edge DNS protocols like DNS over HTTPS and DNS over TLS (a.k.a. DoH and DoT), it secures communications and enhances privacy. Blocky also supports DNSSEC and eDNS, providing modern extensions to keep everything robust. While you're at it, relish the fact that Blocky does NOT collect any user data or telemetry. Nada. Zip. Your privacy stays intact. Integration buffs, you're in for a treat. Blocky has a lineup of integration features, from Prometheus metrics to prepared Grafana dashboards, making analytics a breeze. It logs DNS queries in formats like CSV, MySQL, MariaDB, PostgreSQL, and Timescale, so dissecting network data gets a whole lot easier. Plus, it offers various REST API endpoints and a CLI tool, enhancing its versatility. Even the setup is a cakewalk. Configurations in YAML format keep maintenance simple. Blocky runs stateless—no databases or temp files—and fits snugly in Docker with multi-architecture support. A single binary gets it running on x86-64 and ARM architectures, which means it’s perfect for Raspberry Pi enthusiasts. There’s even a community-supported Helm chart for Kubernetes deployments. Ready to give it a spin? Head over to the installation chapter in the documentation, dive deep into the full docs at https://0xERR0R.github.io/blocky/, and be part of the community. Got some ideas or encountered a hiccup? Issues, feature suggestions, and pull requests are more than welcome. So, there you have it. Blocky is that lightweight, reliable DNS proxy cum ad-blocker you didn’t know you needed until now. Clean those bytes up and surf hassle-free!