Lead Scientist Responds to Questions on Root Server Findings

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.

[ Reply to This | Parent ]

Starting Score:	3		points
Extra 'Insightful' Modifier		0
Total Score:		3

Privacy Policy: We will not knowingly give out your personal data -- other than identifying your postings in the way you direct by setting your configuration options -- without a court order. All logos and trademarks in this site are property of their respective owner. The comments are property of their posters, all the rest © 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 by ICANNWatch.Org. This web site was made with Slashcode, a web portal system written in perl. Slashcode is Free Software released under the GNU/GPL license.
You can syndicate our headlines in .rdf, .rss, or .xml. Domain registration services donated by DomainRegistry.com