[Dnsmasq-discuss] Is there any way to give clients a secondary DNS for when the dnsmasq server isn't running?

[Lovelady, Dennis E.]

From: Jima

> dhcp-option=6,0.0.0.0,8.8.8.8
> 
> (0.0.0.0 will automagically translate to the dnsmasq server's IP;
> 8.8.8.8 is one of Google's public DNS servers, just as an example.)
>
>  Caveat: clients can and most likely will send some queries to 8.8.8.8, 
> even if the dnsmasq instance is up.  If you have any local DNS that will
>  matter, either a) this solution isn't right for you, or b) you could run a 
> second instance of dnsmasq elsewhere, with DHCP disabled, with the
>  relevant DNS records.  

I am also very interested in this topic.  Timing is king!  Just last week while I was working out of state, my server running DNSMASQ was brought to its knees by a thunderstorm, and it didn't bounce back.  From my workplace, I was able to implement a new DNSMASQ instance on another server that had recovered, but of course I had a number of issues - primarily around the fact that only the now-defunct dnsmasq server knew the DNS information.  Is there a reliable way of ensuring that the "relevant DNS records," as you say, make their way to the backup DNS?

Thanks,
Dennis