Comments on: The (very) uneven distribution of DNS root servers on the Internet https://www.pingdom.com/blog/the-very-uneven-distribution-of-dns-root-servers-on-the-internet/ Website Performance and Availability Monitoring | Pingdom Wed, 16 May 2012 10:04:59 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.4.3 By: Pingdom https://www.pingdom.com/blog/the-very-uneven-distribution-of-dns-root-servers-on-the-internet/#comment-3314 Wed, 16 May 2012 10:04:59 +0000 http://royalpingdom.wpengine.com/?p=14116#comment-3314 In reply to bobdvb.

 @bobdvb That would definitely be interesting. Do you know if anyone has done this?

]]> By: Pingdom https://www.pingdom.com/blog/the-very-uneven-distribution-of-dns-root-servers-on-the-internet/#comment-3312 Wed, 16 May 2012 10:02:17 +0000 http://royalpingdom.wpengine.com/?p=14116#comment-3312 In reply to carlosm3011.

 @carlosm3011 The intention really wasn’t to point fingers at some “invisible hand.” We just thought it would be a good thing to highlight that these differences exist, and that they are worth keeping in mind as the Internet DNS infrastructure keeps growing.

]]> By: bobdvb https://www.pingdom.com/blog/the-very-uneven-distribution-of-dns-root-servers-on-the-internet/#comment-3310 Wed, 16 May 2012 09:24:49 +0000 http://royalpingdom.wpengine.com/?p=14116#comment-3310 I agree with Dave Legg, the location of the root servers doesn’t depend on the clients used. A better analysis would be what is the distribution of BGP numbers against root servers, where are the networks/ISPs that are using the root servers. There may be an ISP in China with as many customers as the population of a few countries but they will worry about serving the DNS requests themselves and they will probably have to comply with some national government policy about DNS filtering as well.
 
So while an interesting analysis it isn’t really statistically significant.

]]> By: carlosm3011 https://www.pingdom.com/blog/the-very-uneven-distribution-of-dns-root-servers-on-the-internet/#comment-3308 Tue, 15 May 2012 17:20:31 +0000 http://royalpingdom.wpengine.com/?p=14116#comment-3308 Your article does a good job introducing some figures and makes some interesting observations. However, your line of reasoning seems to point to some ‘invisible hand’ that punishes ‘disadvantaged’ regions over more developed ones (that is, even ignoring that Asia hosts some highly developed economies).
 
You should acknowledge the fact that any organization willing to spend less than 10k US dollars can host an anycasted copy of a root server. How many Asian orgs can do that? I’m willing to bet that they number in the thousands. Why is that they don’t move forward and just do it? This is a more interesting question.
 
This is also true for my region (Latin America). Our ‘disadvantage’ (in terms of root servers) at this point is more our fault than the fault of some ‘invisible hand’. This situation is improving rapidly though.

]]> By: sbram https://www.pingdom.com/blog/the-very-uneven-distribution-of-dns-root-servers-on-the-internet/#comment-3306 Tue, 15 May 2012 16:15:39 +0000 http://royalpingdom.wpengine.com/?p=14116#comment-3306 But what would the cost be for “Asia” to achieve parity, given the population density where most of those under-served users reside? And more importantly, where would the value drop off be (i.e., cost vs performance)?
 
Value becomes a notable concern when the rapid spread of internet access in technologically-developing areas may bring the scalability of current solutions into question. Would a well-intentioned attempt to quickly even the infrastructural playing field mean deploying hardware and software ill-equipped for such a task?
 
What would a holistic view of the problem show us versus just focusing on individual symptoms? Just as different markets demand localized solutions to other common categories (food, fashion, technology, transportation, banking, etc.), there is a huge opportunity, in principles and profits, to addressing the unique needs of internet users by region.

]]> By: Pingdom https://www.pingdom.com/blog/the-very-uneven-distribution-of-dns-root-servers-on-the-internet/#comment-3305 Tue, 15 May 2012 14:22:03 +0000 http://royalpingdom.wpengine.com/?p=14116#comment-3305 In reply to dogwallah.

 @dogwallah Thanks. Our mistake. 🙂

]]> By: dogwallah https://www.pingdom.com/blog/the-very-uneven-distribution-of-dns-root-servers-on-the-internet/#comment-3304 Tue, 15 May 2012 11:52:02 +0000 http://royalpingdom.wpengine.com/?p=14116#comment-3304 @Pingdom….12 orgs run the 13 roots.

]]> By: bortzmeyer https://www.pingdom.com/blog/the-very-uneven-distribution-of-dns-root-servers-on-the-internet/#comment-3303 Tue, 15 May 2012 10:48:40 +0000 http://royalpingdom.wpengine.com/?p=14116#comment-3303 Another important point is that, in some countries, installing a root name server can lead to trouble if the replies from the server are rewritten (something which is frequently done in China). An example was famous: http://www.nic.cl/anuncios/2010-03-29-eng.html
 
So, if you set up a server in one of these countries, people would (unfairly) yell at you http://www.renesys.com/blog/2010/06/two-strikes-i-root.shtml#comment-690

]]> By: Pingdom https://www.pingdom.com/blog/the-very-uneven-distribution-of-dns-root-servers-on-the-internet/#comment-3302 Tue, 15 May 2012 09:20:55 +0000 http://royalpingdom.wpengine.com/?p=14116#comment-3302 In reply to bortzmeyer.

 @bortzmeyer Thanks for the insights. Interesting. Had to quote this: “Honestly, we haven’t even gotten that far when we’ve offered to deploy servers (for instance for domains like .IN) inside India. The bribes that were requested in exchange for giving us permission to deploy a free service were, uh, both prohibitive and ludicrous in their enormity.”

]]> By: bortzmeyer https://www.pingdom.com/blog/the-very-uneven-distribution-of-dns-root-servers-on-the-internet/#comment-3301 Tue, 15 May 2012 06:56:07 +0000 http://royalpingdom.wpengine.com/?p=14116#comment-3301 The problem is purely a governance problem: the placement of a root name server instance is “pull”, not “push”. The instances of the various root name servers are put in places where people ask for it and pay for it (or find a sponsor). It is not only a matter of money. In many places, negotiations are complicated and good will is not always present (Bill Woodcock reported that you sometimes even need to bribe people, see http://mailman.apnic.net/mailing-lists/apnic-talk/archive/2012/03/msg00010.html )
 
You do not install a root name server instance in Shangai or Mumbai like you rent a rack in 60 Hudson.

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