[ALAC] Fwd: ICANN News Alert -- First ICANN Managed Root Server Instance Installed in Palau

[Maureen Hilyard]

[image: ICANN Announcement Alerts]


*First ICANN Managed Root Server Instance Installed in Palau
<https://newsalerts.icann.org/Q0FE08R0Cg2P20N1d00k0g0>*

02 July 2020

SINGAPORE – 2 July 2020 – The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and
Numbers (ICANN) today announced the successful installation of an ICANN
Managed Root Server (IMRS) instance in the Republic of Palau (Palau).

The installation of the first Palau instance is a joint effort between
ICANN and the Palau National Communications Corporation (PNCC). PNCC
supplied the equipment necessary for the installations and the bandwidth
needed to support the instance.

"We appreciate the joint effort by PNCC to host the IMRS instance. This
commitment improves root zone Domain Name System service, and augments the
technical stability and resiliency of the Domain Name System in the
region," said David Conrad, ICANN Chief Technology Officer.

"Having an IMRS instance in Palau should not be considered a PNCC
accomplishment," said Leo Ben Teriong, PNCC Chief Executive Officer. "It is
an advancement in the quality of experience that every Internet user in
Palau will benefit from, as we continue to build our Republic of Palau
hand-in-hand."

ICANN manages more than 165 IMRS instances around the world, most of which
are hosted by third parties. There are now 22 IMRS instances installed in
Oceania, located in Australia, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, French
Polynesia, Guam, Marshall Islands, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Palau, Papua
New Guinea, Samoa, and Solomon Islands.
About ICANN

ICANN's mission is to help ensure a stable, secure, and unified global
Internet. To reach another person on the Internet, you have to type an
address - a name or a number - into your computer or other device. That
address must be unique, so computers know where to find each other. ICANN
helps coordinate and support these unique identifiers across the world.
ICANN was formed in 1998 as a not-for-profit public-benefit corporation and
a community with participants from all over the world.
FACT SHEET

*What is a root server?*

A root server is a name server for the Domain Name System (DNS) root zone.
Root servers respond to DNS lookup requests made by DNS resolvers generally
operated by Internet service providers. When the request is a query about
the root zone itself, the root server will respond authoritatively with the
answer. For all other queries, the root server will respond with either a
referral to the appropriate top-level domain (TLD) name server or an error
response (e.g., to indicate a non-existent TLD). Each root server is made
up of a number of machines at multiple locations. These machines are known
as instances.

*What is a root server instance?*

An instance makes use of an Internet traffic routing technique known as
"anycast" that allows all the root server's instances to have the same two
IP addresses (an IPv4 address and an IPv6 address) and to serve the same
DNS content, including information about the name servers for TLDs.

*Benefits of root server instances*

Increasing the number of instances improves the overall fault tolerance of
the DNS, bolsters the resilience against certain types of cyber threats
such as Denial of Service (DoS) attacks, and can reduce the response time
that local Internet users experience during DNS queries.

Contrary to common misconception, root servers do not control the Internet.
The operation of an instance also does not provide any mechanism to alter
content of the DNS. Any modification of root zone content will be mitigated
by a part of the DNS protocol known as the DNS Security Extensions (DNSSEC)
and if an instance fails to respond to a query, resolvers will ask the same
question to another instance or root server.

Regardless of which root server the resolvers are sending queries to,
spreading more instances geographically leads to a more resilient,
dispersed system that reduces the risk of Internet users being taken
offline by a problem or attack. The increased distribution of instances
also ensures that the turnaround time of a DNS query and response is as
fast as possible, resulting in better experiences for Internet users.

Historically, there were 13 individual machines that provided root service,
with each one of those machines having one of 13 unique IPv4 addresses.
However, today, there are 26 unique IP addresses - 13 IPv4 and 13 IPv6,
that are used to provide root service via over 1000 individual machines.
The equipment, hardware, and connectivity for the machines that use those
26 addresses are administered by 12 organizations known as "root server
operators." ICANN, which administers the ICANN Managed Root Server (IMRS),
is one of those 12 organizations.

Each of the root server operators manages their constellation of instances
independently of the others, although they do coordinate with one another
when needs arise. While the service provided by each root server operator
may differ in how the service is offered, they are identical in the answers
to DNS questions they receive. No root server operator is unique - all 12
root server operators obtain root zone data as defined by the Internet
Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) and make that data available via the IPv4
or IPv6 address associated with their server.


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