DOMAIN NAME RESOLUTION USING A DISTRIBUTED DNS NETWORK

• US 20100257258A1
• Filed: 05/25/2010
• Published: 10/07/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 07/19/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Akamai Technologies, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Speedera Networks Incorporated (Akamai Technologies, Inc.)
• Inventors: Swildens, Eric Sven-Johan, Day, Richard David, Liu, Zaide Edward
• Granted Patent: US 8,117,296 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/220
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/4511 using domain name system [DNS]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/4541 Directories for service discovery
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/4552 Lookup mechanisms between a plurality of directories; Synchronisation of directories, e.g. metadirectories
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/58 Caching of addresses or names
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/1408 by monitoring network traffic monitoring network traffic per se H04L43/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/1458 Denial of Service
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/02 based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/06 specially adapted for file transfer, e.g. file transfer protocol [FTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1001 for accessing one among a plurality of replicated servers
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/10015 Access to distributed or replicated servers, e.g. using brokers
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1008 based on parameters of servers, e.g. available memory or workload monitoring of computer activity G06F11/30
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/101 based on network conditions
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1021 based on client or server locations
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1095 Replication or mirroring of data, e.g. scheduling or transport for data synchronisation between network nodes
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/289 Intermediate processing functionally located close to the data consumer application, e.g. in same machine, in same home or in same sub-network
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/5682 Policies or rules for updating, deleting or replacing the stored data
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/329 in the application layer [OSI layer 7]

Abstract

A distributed DNS network includes a central origin server that actually controls the zone, and edge DNS cache servers configured to cache the DNS content of the origin server. The edge DNS cache servers are published as the authoritative servers for customer domains instead of the origin server. When a request for a DNS record results in a cache miss, the edge DNS cache servers get the information from the origin server and cache it for use in response to future requests. Multiple edge DNS cache servers can be deployed at multiple locations. Since an unlimited number of edge DNS cache servers can be deployed, the system is highly scalable. The disclosed techniques protect against DoS attacks, as DNS requests are not made to the origin server directly.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method, comprising:

generating one or more first administrative interface elements, wherein each of the one or more administrative interface elements is associated with one or more management operations for a plurality of edge DNS cache servers;

in response to receiving a first request associated with a first element of the one or more administrative elements, mapping a first edge DNS cache server to a virtual DNS server;

in response to receiving a second request associated with a second element of the one or more administrative elements, mapping a second edge DNS cache server to the virtual DNS server;

wherein the method is performed by one or more computing devices.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

mapping an origin DNS server to the virtual DNS server.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the virtual DNS server is represented by a first IP address, and mapping the first and second edge DNS cache servers to the virtual DNS server comprises:

assigning the first IP address to the first edge DNS cache server;

assigning the first IP address to the second edge DNS cache server; and

publishing the first IP address as the authoritative DNS server for a first domain.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising:

in response to receiving a second request associated with a second element of the one or more administrative elements, the second request comprising the first IP address;

configuring the first IP address as an anycast address.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein mapping the first and second edge DNS cache servers to the virtual DNS server comprises:

providing a first alias for the first IP address using a CNAME record associated with the first edge DNS cache server and providing a second alias for the first IP address using a CNAME record associated with the second edge DNS cache server.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein mapping the first and second edge DNS cache servers to the virtual DNS server comprises configuring a load-balancer to select one of the first and second edge DNS cache servers to serve DNS requests.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

in response to receiving a third request associated with a third element of the one or more administrative elements, performing a management operation, wherein the management operation includes at least one of;

altering cache settings;

purging DNS content;

populating DNS content;

generating statistical information;

manage DNS files;

changing DNS server settings;

configuring load balancing settings;

requesting probe information;

changing probe settings;

configuring network security-related settings;

or configuring virtual DNS server settings.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the management operation includes generating statistical information, the method further comprising:

in response to receiving the user input associated with the first IP address, generating one or more reports associated with the first and second edge DNS cache servers.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein the management operation includes generating statistical information that includes DNS request frequency information.

10. A computer-readable non-transitory medium storing instructions which, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform:

generating one or more first administrative interface elements, wherein each of the one or more administrative interface elements is associated with one or more management operations for a plurality of edge DNS cache servers;

in response to receiving a first request associated with a first element of the one or more administrative elements, mapping a first edge DNS cache server to a virtual DNS server;

in response to receiving a second request associated with a second element of the one or more administrative elements, mapping a second edge DNS cache server to the virtual DNS server.

11. The computer-readable non-transitory medium of claim 10, wherein the instructions further include instructions for mapping an origin DNS server to the virtual DNS server.

12. The computer-readable non-transitory medium of claim 10, wherein the virtual DNS server is represented by a first IP address, and mapping the first and second edge DNS cache servers to the virtual DNS server comprises:

assigning the first IP address to the first edge DNS cache server;

assigning the first IP address to the second edge DNS cache server; and

publishing the first IP address as the authoritative DNS server for a first domain.

13. The computer-readable non-transitory medium of claim 12, wherein the instructions further include instructions for:

in response to receiving a second request associated with a second element of the one or more administrative elements, the second request comprising the first IP address;

configuring the first IP address as an anycast address.

14. The computer-readable non-transitory medium of claim 10, wherein mapping the first and second edge DNS cache servers to the virtual DNS server comprises:

providing a first alias for the first IP address using a CNAME record associated with the first edge DNS cache server and providing a second alias for the first IP address using a CNAME record associated with the second edge DNS cache server.

15. The computer-readable non-transitory medium of claim 10, wherein mapping the first and second edge DNS cache servers to the virtual DNS server comprises configuring a load-balancer to select one of the first and second edge DNS cache servers to serve DNS requests.

16. The computer-readable non-transitory medium of claim 10, wherein the instructions further include instructions for:

in response to receiving a third request associated with a third element of the one or more administrative elements, performing a management operation, wherein the management operation includes at least one of;

altering cache settings;

purging DNS content;

populating DNS content;

generating statistical information;

manage DNS files;

changing DNS server settings;

configuring load balancing settings;

requesting probe information;

changing probe settings;

configuring network security-related settings;

or configuring virtual DNS server settings.

17. The computer-readable non-transitory medium of claim 16, wherein the management operation includes generating statistical information, wherein the instructions further include instructions for:

in response to receiving the user input associated with the first IP address, generating one or more reports associated with the first and second edge DNS cache servers.

18. The computer-readable non-transitory medium of claim 16, wherein the management operation includes generating statistical information that includes DNS request frequency information.

19. An apparatus, comprising:

one or more processors;

graphical user interface generating logic configured to generate one or more first administrative interface elements, wherein each of the one or more administrative interface elements is associated with one or more management operations for a plurality of edge DNS cache servers;

mapping logic configured to;

map a first edge DNS cache server to a virtual DNS server in response to receiving a first request associated with a first element of the one or more administrative elements;

map a second edge DNS cache server to the virtual DNS server in response to receiving a second request associated with a second element of the one or more administrative elements.

20. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the mapping logic is further configured to map an origin DNS server to the virtual DNS server.

21. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the virtual DNS server is represented by a first IP address, and mapping the first and second edge DNS cache servers to the virtual DNS server is performed by server configuration logic configured to:

assign the first IP address to the first edge DNS cache server;

assign the first IP address to the second edge DNS cache server; and

publish the first IP address as the authoritative DNS server for a first domain.

22. The apparatus of claim 21, further comprising:

anycast logic configured to configure the first IP address as an anycast address in response to receiving a second request associated with a second element of the one or more administrative elements, the second request comprising the first IP address.

23. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein mapping the first and second edge DNS cache servers to the virtual DNS server is performed by DNS record configuration logic configured to provide a first alias for the first IP address using a CNAME record associated with the first edge DNS cache server and provide a second alias for the first IP address using a CNAME record associated with the second edge DNS cache server.

24. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein mapping the first and second edge DNS cache servers to the virtual DNS server is performed by load-balancing logic configured to configure a load-balancer to select one of the first and second edge DNS cache servers to serve DNS requests.

25. The apparatus of claim 19, further comprising:

management operation logic, configured to perform a management operation in response to receiving a third request associated with a third element of the one or more administrative elements, wherein the management operation includes at least one of;

altering cache settings;

purging DNS content;

populating DNS content;

generating statistical information;

manage DNS files;

changing DNS server settings;

configuring load balancing settings;

requesting probe information;

changing probe settings;

configuring network security-related settings;

or configuring virtual DNS server settings.

26. The apparatus of claim 25, wherein the management operation includes generating statistical information, the apparatus further comprising:

report generating logic configured to generating one or more reports associated with the first and second edge DNS cache servers in response to receiving the user input associated with the first IP address.

27. The apparatus of claim 25, wherein the management operation includes generating statistical information that includes DNS request frequency information.