NationMaster - Encyclopedia: Alternative DNS root

In addition to the Internet's main DNS root (currently consisting of 13 nominal root nameservers working in agreement with ICANN), several organizations operate alternative DNS roots (often referred to as alt roots). Each alternative root has its own set of root nameservers and its own set of top-level domains (TLDs). On the Internet, the Domain Name Server (DNS) associates various sorts of information with so-called domain names; most importantly, it serves as the phone book for the Internet by translating human-readable computer hostnames, e. ... The AMS-IX mirror of the K root-server. ... ICANN headquarters ICANN (IPA /aÉªkÃ¦n/) is the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers. ... â€œTLDâ€ redirects here. ...

The Internet Architecture Board has spoken out strongly against alternate roots in RFC 2826, "IAB Technical Comment on the Unique DNS Root". The Internet Architecture Board (IAB) is the committee charged with oversight of the technical and engineering development of the Internet by the Internet Society (ISOC). ...

Description

The DNS root zone consists of pointers to authoritative DNS servers for Global Top Level Domain (like .com and .net) and Country Code Top Level Domain zones (like .us, .uk, and .tv). A collection of "traditional" root servers independently operated by many organizations around the internet use a list of these domains which is managed by ICANN. Alternative roots typically include pointers to all of the TLD servers delegated by ICANN, as well as TLD servers for other top-level domains (like .new, .nic, and .web) which are not delegated by ICANN, but run by other independent organizations. Some, but not all, alt-roots are operated by the organizations which in turn manage these alternative TLDs.

Alternative DNS roots can in general be divided into three groups: those run for idealistic or ideological reasons, those run as profit-making enterprises, and those run internally by an organization for its own use.

Whilst technically trivial to set up, actually running a reliable root server network in the long run is a serious undertaking, requiring multiple servers to be kept running 24/7 in geographically diverse locations. During the dot-com boom, some alt-root providers believed that there were substantial profits to be made from providing alternative top-level domains. Dot-com (also dotcom or redundantly dot. ...

Only a small proportion of ISPs actually use any of the zones served by alt-root operators, generally sticking to the ICANN-specified root servers. This in turn led to the commercial failure of several alternative DNS root providers.

A .biz TLD created by Pacific Root was in operation before ICANN approved a .biz run by Neulevel, and for some time after the creation of the ICANN-sanctioned .biz several alt roots continued to resolve .biz to Pacific Root's rather than Neulevel's. There were therefore .biz domain names that existed in different roots and pointed to different IP addresses. The possibility of such conflicts, and their potential for destabilizing the Internet, is the main source of controversy surrounding alt roots. Many of the alternate roots try to coordinate with each other, but many do not - and they have no conflict resolution procedure between them. .biz is a generic top-level domain (TLD) intended for domains to be used by businesses; the name is a phonetic spelling of the first syllable of business. ... An IP address (Internet Protocol address) is a unique address that certain electronic devices currently use in order to identify and communicate with each other on a computer network utilizing the Internet Protocol standard (IP)â€”in simpler terms, a computer address. ...

List of alternative roots and the non-ICANN zones they include

This section lists the known alternate DNS roots, and for each root, lists the non-ICANN GTLDs which that root carries in addition to the ICANN-sanctioned GTLDs and ccTLDs.

Active public root zones

OpenNIC

Website: [2] OpenNIC is an alternate Network Information Center/Domain name system root which lists itself as an alternative to ICANN and its registries. ...

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Open Root Server Network (ORSN)

Open Root Server Network (ORSN) is a network of root nameservers for the Internet, operating since February 2002. ...

New.Net

.travel is a top-level domain approved by ICANN as a sponsored TLD in the second group of new TLD applications evaluated in 2004. ... .xxx is a proposed top-level domain (TLD) intended as a voluntary option for sexually explicit sites on the Internet. ...

UnifiedRoot

On the user side, it works by modifying the user's DNS settings to point at UnifiedRoot's servers; it also offers a downloadable tool to do this on Windows. UnifiedRoot have also made agreements with ISPs and telcos to enable access to the provided TLDs.

Namespace

MobileTLD

Public root zones with an unknown status

Inactive public root zones

AlterNIC (stopped in 1997) AlterNIC was an alternative DNS root founded by Eugene Kashpureff. ...

eDNS (stopped in 1998) .xxx is a proposed top-level domain (TLD) intended as a voluntary option for sexually explicit sites on the Internet. ... eDNS was an organization that promoted alternative DNS root services. ...

Active private root zones

A number of organizations have alternative top-level domains configured on their internal DNS infrastructures, accessible only from within the enterprise. For instance, the National Security Agency operates the .nsa TLD; many NSA internal email addresses are of the form username@r21.r.nsa, mirroring the NSA organizational group structure. â€œNSAâ€ redirects here. ...

See also

The Open Root Server Confederation, Inc. ... Open Root Server Network (ORSN) is a network of root nameservers for the Internet, operating since February 2002. ... ICANN headquarters ICANN (IPA /aÉªkÃ¦n/) is the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers. ... ICANN headquarters ICANN (IPA /aÉªkÃ¦n/) is the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers. ... OpenDNS is a free DNS resolution service. ... The World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) is a UN-sponsored conference about information and communication. ... RealNames was a company founded in 1997 by Keith Teare. ... OpenNIC is an alternate Network Information Center/Domain name system root which lists itself as an alternative to ICANN and its registries. ...

External links

A generic top-level domain (gTLD) is a top-level domain used (at least in theory) by a particular class of organization. ... .biz is a generic top-level domain (TLD) intended for domains to be used by businesses; the name is a phonetic spelling of the first syllable of business. ... This article is about the generic top-level domain . ... .edu (education) is the generic top-level domain for educational institutions, primarily those in the United States. ... .gov is the generic top-level domain used by the United States federal government. ... .info is a generic top-level domain intended for informative websites, although its use is not restricted. ... .int is a generic top-level domain (gTLD) used on the Internets Domain Name System. ... .mil is the generic top-level domain for the United States Department of Defense and its subsidiary organizations. ... .name is a generic top-level domain (gTLD) intended for the use of individuals. ... This article is about the top-level domain . ... .org (organization) is a generic top-level domain (gTLD) used in the Internets Domain Name System. ... A sponsored top-level domain is a generic top-level domain proposed by an independent agency, with that agency establishing and enforcing rules restricting the eligibility of registrants to use the TLD. For example, the . ... .aero is a generic top-level domain (gTLD) used on the Internets Domain Name System. ... .asia is a generic top-level domain proposed by the DotAsia Organization, with the back-end registry to be operated by Afilias. ... .cat is a top-level domain submitted to ICANN for approval as a sponsored TLD. It would be used to highlight Catalan language and culture. ... .coop is a generic top-level domain intended for the use of cooperatives. ... .jobs is a top-level domain approved by ICANN on April 8, 2005 as a sponsored TLD as part of the second group of new TLD applications submitted in 2004. ... .mobi (also known as DotMobi) is a top-level domain approved by ICANN and managed by the mTLD global registry dedicated to delivering the Internet to mobile devices via the Mobile Web. ... .museum is a generic top-level domain (gTLD) used exclusively by museums, museum associations, and individual members of the museum profession, as these groups are defined by the International Council of Museums (ICOM). ... .pro (professional) is a generic top-level domain. ... .tel is a top-level domain submitted to ICANN for approval as a sponsored TLD. It would be restricted to internet communication services, and provide a supplement to the traditional numeric namespace for telecommunication services (i. ... .travel is a top-level domain approved by ICANN as a sponsored TLD in the second group of new TLD applications evaluated in 2004. ... .arpa is an Internet top-level domain (TLD) used exclusively for Internet-infrastructure purposes. ... . The initial letter is shown capitalized due to technical restrictions. ... There are several proposed top-level domains which have not yet been approved by ICANN, as of 2007: .berlin . ... .berlin (dotBERLIN) is a proposed new top level domain (TLD). ... . ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... .kid is a generic top-level domain proposed by the European Parliament for websites designed for children, and would be monitored by an independent authority. ... .kids is a proposed top-level domain that its supporters hope would deter the spread of pornography to minors. ... .bzh (dotBZH) is a proposed top-level domain for sites about the Breton culture and language. ... .cym (dotCYM) is a proposed top-level domain for sites written in the Welsh language. ... .gal is a proposed top-level domain for sites from Galicia, or related to this Spanish nationality. ... .sco (dotSCO) is a proposed top-level domain. ... .geo is a generic top-level domain proposed by SRI International to be used to associate Internet resources with geographical locations, via a system of georegistrars and georegistries with hierarchical addresses representing locations in a grid encircling the Earth. ... .mail is a generic top-level domain proposed by Spamhaus, but unapproved by ICANN. It would attempt to reduce the spam problem by creating addresses which have been authenticated as not belonging to spammers, and with verified contact information, paralleling the actual addresses (in other TLDs) of servers used to... .web is a generic top-level domain operated as an alternative registry, not in the official root, by Image Online Design since 1995. ... .post is Top-level domain submitted to ICANN for approval as a sponsored TLD. It would be restricted to the use of national and regional postal services, and private businesses that provide similar services. ... .xxx is a proposed top-level domain (TLD) intended as a voluntary option for sexually explicit sites on the Internet. ... .nato is a former Internet top-level domain. ... .example is a reserved top-level domain not intended for real use in the global DNS. It was defined in June 1999 by RFC 2606, along with . ... jhjhjh ... .localhost is a Reserved top-level domain never intended for actual use in the global DNS. Its reservation is to avoid misuse with the common localhost See also Reserved top-level domains RFC2606 - Reserved domains list and information Generic top-level domains .aero . ... .test is a Reserved top-level domain never intended for actual use in the global DNS. It was not one of the original top-level domains established in 1985. ... A number of pseudo top-level domains to be used in naming computers have been defined at various times. ... .bitnet was a pseudo-domain-style suffix used in the late 1980s when identifying a hostname not connected directly to the Internet but possibly reachable through inter-network gateways. ... .csnet was a pseudo-domain-style suffix used in the late 1980s when identifying a hostname not connected directly to the Internet but possibly reachable through inter-network gateways. ... .ip is a Pseudo top-level domain which is used to indicate that the rest of the hostname is either an IP address or a masked IP address. ... .local is a domain used by Apple Computers Bonjour protocol. ... .onion is a pseudo-domain-style address suffix (similar in concept to such endings as . ... .uucp was a pseudo-domain-style suffix used in the late 1980s when identifying a hostname not connected directly to the Internet but possibly reachable through inter-network gateways. ... A country code top-level domain (ccTLD) is a top-level domain used and reserved for a country or a dependent territory. ...

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