DNS 2XL

The first part of this report on the handling of large DNS responses looked at the behaviour of the DNS, and the interaction between recursive resolvers and authoritative name servers in particular and examined what happens when the DNS response is around the Internet’s de facto MTU size of 1,500…


IETF 109

For a group that works on network technologies it was always a bit odd that the IETF met in person three times a year. Didn’t we have enough trust in the efficacy in the technologies that we work on? I don’t think that is the case. I think the bandwidth…


DNS XL

We’ve written a number of times about the issues of managing packet sizes in packet-switched networks. It’s an interesting space that is an essential part of the design of packet-switched networks, and a space where we still seem to be searching for a robust design. This work has been prompted…


DNS Trends

We used to think of computer networks as being constructed using two fundamental common infrastructure components: names and addresses. Every connected device had a stable protocol address to allow all other devices to initiate a communication transaction with this device by addressing a data packet too this protocol address. And…


Securing Routing Q&A’s

Over the past few months I’ve had the opportunity at various network operator meetings to talk about BGP routing security and also highlight a measurement page we’ve set up that measures the extent to which Route Origin Validation (RoV) is actually “protecting” users (https://stats.labs.apnic.net/rpki). By this I mean we’re measuring…


Going Postal

When a service is constructed using diverse components, then the way in which service revenues are distributed to the various suppliers of the components of the service can follow a number of quite distinct models. There are various forms of revenue redistribution models where the revenue per transaction is distributed…


Scaling the Root of the DNS

The DNS is a remarkably simple system. You send it queries and you get back answers. Within the system you see exactly the same simplicity: The DNS resolver that receives your query may not know the answer, so it, in turn, will send queries deeper into the system and collects…


DNS Query Privacy Revisited

This article was first written in August 2019, and it ended with the comment: “It’s likely that we will return to this measurement of the use of Qname minimisation in a year or so to see if anything has changed from the picture today.” A year has passed and it’s…


On Cyber Governance

APAN (Asia Pacific Advanced Network) brings together national research and education networks in the Asia Pacific region. APAN holds meetings twice a year to talk about current activities in the regional NREN sector. I was invited to be on a panel at APAN 50 on the subject of Cyber Governance,…


The Making of an RFC in today’s IETF

I’m a co-author (or is that “co-editor” in today’s politically correct environment?) of an Internet Draft that is closing in for publication as an RFC. It has gone through the Full Monty of the current IETF standardization process, including the steps of document review for Working Group adoption, further cycles…