DNS flaw fixed, Neustar claims

Neustar, a provider of managed DNS services to e-commerce sites, says it has developed an innovative, low-cost fix to a well-known problem that prevents DNS updates from getting propagated quickly across the Internet.

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Neustar unveiled Thursday the DNS Real-time Directory, a cloud-based computing service that will support the exchange of real-time updates of DNS information between the DNS vendors and ISPs that subscribe to it.

The directory's goal is to provide a better, faster way of updating DNS information across the Internet, benefiting both Web site operators and the Internet users who visit them.

"This is a fundamental improvement to the DNS," says Rodney Joffe, senior vice president and senior technologist with Neustar. "The advantage is significant for our customers because they will see their DNS changes propagated in real time…The accuracy of our service is significantly greater."

Neustar's DNS Real-time Directory fixes a feature of the DNS known as Time to Live (TTL), a waiting period that dictates how frequently DNS records that are cached within an ISP's infrastructure get updated. Today, it can take hours or days for a Web site operator to let the entire Internet DNS infrastructure know that it has made a change or fixed an error.

With Neustar's DNS Real-time Directory, Web site operators are no longer constrained by Time to Live waiting periods when they need to change an IP address or add a new server.

"A few weeks ago, Sweden had an error in their DNS zone. They discovered the error in a few minutes, but the effects lasted for 24 hours because when they published their zone, they had a Time to Live of 24 hours. Until the Time to Live expires, visitors would be sent to the wrong place," Joffe explained. Neustar's DNS Real-time Directory "would have solved this problem immediately….You can push the change to everyone long before the TTL expires."

Neustar's UltraDNS group is a provider of authoritative DNS services, which is how Web sites publish the latest information about their DNS and IP address changes over the Internet.

The first DNS provider to join Neustar's DNS Real-time Directory is OpenDNS, the Internet's largest provider of recursive DNS services, which is how Internet users access Web sites. OpenDNS supports 15 million users and 20 billion DNS request daily.

"Typically, DNS records can be cached for a day or more. It can take a week for the rest of the Internet to hear about a change," explains David Ulevitch, founder and CTO of OpenDNS. "Now, whenever one of Neustar's customers makes an update, we'll get the update out in real time to all of our customers around the world."

OpenDNS and Neustar are already exchanging information through the real-time directory.

"This is a big innovation," Ulevitch says. "The DNS does not get innovated on very often…We're really happy to work with Neustar on this."

The relationship between Neustar and OpenDNS is not exclusive. Neustar is reaching out to other DNS providers and ISPs to join its DNS Real-time Directory.