Sun Microsystems and theInternet Systems Consortium, a nonprofit corporation that providesinfrastructure for the global Domain Name System, announced Wednesday that the ISC chose the free andopen source Solaris 10 Operating System and Sun Fire x64 server as an F-root server, one of the 13 root DNS servers that form the backbone of the Internet.
Typically responding to tens of thousands of requests per second, a root DNS server solution must be highly scalable and fault-tolerant.
Security a High Priority
“Virtually every Internet transaction — from sending an e-mail to finding a Web site — begins with a DNS query,” said Joao Damas, F-root program manager, ISC.
“The performance bar is set extremely high for a root DNS server platform; the Internet would essentially stop functioning if a majority of the 13 root servers were disrupted for any reason,” he added.
“Consequently, a root DNS server is an obvious target for hackers. Thus, our security requirements are among the most stringent anywhere,” Damas noted, “which is one of the key reasons we selected the combination of Solaris 10 and a Sun Fire x64 server.”
Meeting the demands placed on a root DNS server at the very heart of the Internet will allow Solaris 10 to demonstrate the mission-critical, high-throughput service for which the operating system was designed, according to Tom Goguen, vice president of Solaris Software for Sun Microsystems.
Fault-Tolerant Features
Solaris 10 includes a number of new and exclusive features for x86 and x64 systems, including Solaris Dynamic Tracing and Solaris Predictive Self-Healing, which allow applications and services hosted on the Solaris for x64 OS to continue running even in the presence of CPU (central processing unit), memory and disk failures.
In addition to maintaining and improving BIND (Berkeley Internet Name Domain) and DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol), essential open source software components of the Internet’s infrastructure, ISC has expanded its focus to include enhancing the stability of the global DNS through reliable F-root server operations and ongoing operation of a DNS crisis coordination center.
The ISC is also engaged in further protocol development efforts, particularly in the areas of DNS evolution and the transition to IPv6.
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