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Lead Scientist Responds to Questions on Root Server Findings
posted by michael on Thursday February 27 2003, @01:16PM
AF writes "In this special CircleID interview with Duane Wessels, president of The
Measurement Factory and one of the main scientists who lead the root server
study, an attempt is made to gain a better sense of the background behind the
study."
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"Mr. Wessels responds to why a main root server,
at the heart of the Internet, is so saturated with unnecessary queries. What can
be done about this issue? And, how? But most importantly, why? After all, from
an end-user's perspective, the Internet appears to be working just fine! Should
Internet users and business or any entity that fully or partially depends on the
Internet be concerned? Some of the answers may come as a surprise to you..."
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Lead Scientist Responds to Questions on Root Server Findings
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I get the very strong impression that the 98% number is being used in two very distinctly different ways. The technical report seems to saying one thing and the writer of the Circle-D article seems to be saying something else entirely.
I read the actual technical report as saying that of the queries received by the particular root server under test only about 2% of the queries were really useful. I do not read the technical report as making any statement whatsoever about whether the aggregate number of queries is near or far from the rated capacity of the server (or its access links.)
The writer of this article seems to be trying to imply that the that root server was running at 98% of its rated capacity.
I have heard that no root server is running at more than a small portion of its rated capacity - and it is my understanding that it is relatively easy to expand root server capacity (typically by adding more or bigger machines to what appears from the outside to be a single server.) And with the use of anycast we are starting to see the deployment of a significant number of additional servers with good geographic distribution.
In other words, I do not read the report as indicating anything more than that there are is a lot of useless DNS activity, not that any root server is anywhere near blowing a fuse.
That 98% number is indicative of some serious issues concerning how the net is used and how simple causes can result in much hidden churning of the net. And my own experience in examining internet implementations in areas other than DNS leads me to believe that there is a lot of equipment out there that is badly implemented, misconfigured, or misused.
But I do not read the 98% number as a sign that the internet sky will fall should there be a 2% increase in traffic.
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[ Reply to This | Parent
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Karl is right: the report says nothing about saturation of any root servers. It couldn't: the report was about one server, not all of them. Further, there is nothing in the report that talks about load.
The title of the CircleID story indicates that the person writing it has no understanding of the report. The leading questions in the article also show a lack of understanding (or a desire for sensationalism) that is not borne out in the answers.
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[ Reply to This | Parent
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We get a lot of positive input but what we hope to receive is more constructive criticisms –- the only sure way to help us improve and pass on the collective effort to you. Thank you Karl and Paul for your previous two inputs. CircleID is for you, for those who care for a better Internet, and a place that wants your opinions matter. If we are lacking, we ask for your participation in this collective effort. Thank you.
Sincerely,
CircleID Network
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