Domain Name System (DNS)

RFCs

• DNS-related RFCs
• RFC 974: Mail Routing and the Domain System
• RFC 1034: Domain Names - Concepts and Facilities
• RFC 1035: Domain Names - Implementation and Specification
• RFC 1591: Domain Name System Structure and Delegation
• RFC 2052: A DNS RR for Specifying the Location of Services (DNS SRV)

Tutorials

• DNS: The Domain Name System
• Internet Protocol Tutorial: Domain Name System - DNS
• Rendezvous, Apple's DNS-SD (service discovery) mechanism. It encodes service information in TXT records.
• BIND is the main name server software; links to resources.
• DNS resources directory
• Java DNS implementation

Tools

• DNS server survey
• PowerDNS: access DNS information from any data source. This includes file formats, Bind zone files, relational databases or LDAP directories.
• zodiac, "a DNS protocol analyzation and exploitation program"
• MyDNS: DNS server with database backend

Management

• ICANN manages the top-level domains, but is not universally popular
• The Generic Top Level Domain Memorandum of Understanding
• Registrars:
  • Name Bargain ($8.88)
  • Register.com
  • Joker.com 12 Euro
  • IPnetworks.info: $17.95/2 years
  • DomBox: with IMAP, POP
  • DotEasy: POP
  • Zone Edit "ZoneEdit.com provides DNS, with an easy front end. Just type in a domain name and an IP address on a web page, then browse to the domain you've created, instantly!"

Details

Load of the root servers; more statistics and details

"[NSI] is installing multiple Sun Microsystems E-10000 and 4500 enterprise servers with the capacity to handle millions of simultaneous transactions. 'The amount of traffic that we are getting has required us to literally double the number of servers every six months,' said Dave Holtzman, senior vice president of engineering at Network Solutions. Holtzman said the company's Whois server, which holds the names and addresses of domain name owners, gets as many as 40 million hits a month, while the main domain root server gets as many as 3,000 hits a second." (NYT, May 7, 1999 )

The GTLD are on different servers:

; <<>> DiG 8.2 <<>> ns com. 
;; res options: init recurs defnam dnsrch
;; got answer:
;; ->>HEADER<<- opcode: QUERY, status: NOERROR, id: 4
;; flags: qr rd ra; QUERY: 1, ANSWER: 12, AUTHORITY: 0, ADDITIONAL: 12
;; QUERY SECTION:
;;      com, type = NS, class = IN

;; ANSWER SECTION:
com.                    4d18h29m6s IN NS  I.GTLD-SERVERS.NET.
com.                    4d18h29m6s IN NS  B.GTLD-SERVERS.NET.
com.                    4d18h29m6s IN NS  D.GTLD-SERVERS.NET.
com.                    4d18h29m6s IN NS  A.ROOT-SERVERS.NET.
com.                    4d18h29m6s IN NS  E.GTLD-SERVERS.NET.
com.                    4d18h29m6s IN NS  F.GTLD-SERVERS.NET.
com.                    4d18h29m6s IN NS  J.GTLD-SERVERS.NET.
com.                    4d18h29m6s IN NS  K.GTLD-SERVERS.NET.
com.                    4d18h29m6s IN NS  A.GTLD-SERVERS.NET.
com.                    4d18h29m6s IN NS  M.GTLD-SERVERS.NET.
com.                    4d18h29m6s IN NS  G.GTLD-SERVERS.NET.
com.                    4d18h29m6s IN NS  C.GTLD-SERVERS.NET.

;; ADDITIONAL SECTION:
I.GTLD-SERVERS.NET.     5d30m32s IN A   192.36.144.133
B.GTLD-SERVERS.NET.     4d15h51m32s IN A  203.181.106.5
D.GTLD-SERVERS.NET.     5d30m32s IN A   208.206.240.5
A.ROOT-SERVERS.NET.     5d30m32s IN A   198.41.0.4
E.GTLD-SERVERS.NET.     5d30m32s IN A   207.200.81.69
F.GTLD-SERVERS.NET.     5d30m32s IN A   198.17.208.67
J.GTLD-SERVERS.NET.     5d30m32s IN A   210.132.100.101
K.GTLD-SERVERS.NET.     5d30m32s IN A   213.177.194.5
A.GTLD-SERVERS.NET.     21h24m18s IN A  198.41.3.38
M.GTLD-SERVERS.NET.     5d30m32s IN A   202.153.114.101
G.GTLD-SERVERS.NET.     5d30m32s IN A   198.41.3.101
C.GTLD-SERVERS.NET.     5d30m32s IN A   205.188.185.18

For Germany, these include:

193.196.32.1
192.76.144.66
137.39.1.3
128.63.5.4
192.5.25.5,
193.0.0.193
192.36.125.2
192.36.148.18
128.55.128.191
128.55.32.12

• To get a zone transfer, use

  nslookup
  > server f.root-servers.net
  > ls com. > file
  

  However, root servers no longer allow zone transfers. A listing for .gov and .edu is available via ftp. A stripped list shows some rather strange "4-year degree granting US institutions" such as

  3sheep.edu
  3ponts.edu
  fudan.edu
  

• New Domain May Unite Europe
• Internet Labels Lose Meaning in Rush for Popular Addresses (NYT, 11/29/1999)
• The Case for Pushing DNS, Hotnets IV, Nov. 2005
• Multiple roots discussion paper
• In July 1997, 92% of the companies registered under the COM domain had a "Technical Contact" in the US. (John Martin)
• whois -h companies.mci.net company returns the company web page URL (RFC 2345).
• domainwatch finds all domain names containing a particular string and lists references to the www.domain.tld from search engines
• Internic: general whois showing who registered the information.
• Internet Glitch Reveals System's Pervasiveness, Vulnerability
• Programs to investigate DNS include host, dnsquery and nslookup.

Registration

• NTIA white paper (June 5, 1998) suggesting the establishment of a private, not-for-profit organization to 1) set policy for and direct allocation of IP number blocks to regional Internet number registries; 2) oversee operation of the authoritative Internet root server system; 3) oversee policy for determining the circumstances under which new TLDs are added to the root system; and 4) coordinate the assignment of other Internet technical parameters as needed to maintain universal connectivity on the Internet.
• DNS LOC: Geo-enabling the Domain Name System
• Casting a Wider Net, Village Voice, April 2001 (alternative root zones).
• SRV records are implemented in bind 8.1.1; includes an updated resolver library which can be compiled into applications, provide support for SRV records. list of SRV-supporting clients
• adns: asynchronous DNS library
• RULI: "library built on top of an asynchronous DNS stub resolver. RULI provides an easy-to-use interface for querying DNS SRV resource records."
• XNS: XNS (eXtensible Name Service) is a new open protocol and open-source platform for universal addressing, automated data exchange, and privacy control. XNS is based on two key technologies: XML, the new global standard for platform-independent information exchange, and web agents, a patented new technology that automates the exchange, linking, and synchronization of information between publishers and subscribers over digital networks.

Outsourced Services

• UltraDNS

Last updated by Henning Schulzrinne