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22 June 2004 - Qtel, in partnership with the Amsterdam based Réseaux IP Européens Network Coordination Centre (RIPE NCC) has deployed a mirror instance of the K-root servers in Doha, Qatar. This deployment should boost Internet performance across the Middle East region as a whole.
The K-root server is one of the 13 DNS (Domain Name System) root servers that resolve lookups for domain names all over the world and form a critical part of the global Internet infrastructure. DNS is a service used to translate between host names and IP addresses. It is used by virtually all internetworking software, including e-mail and web browsers.
The K-root service is provided by a set of distributed mirror instances using IPv4 anycast. Each mirror instance announces the 193.0.14.0/24 network in AS25152. A K-root mirror instance consists of a cluster of server machines running the NSD name server software.
Using anycast makes the root server system more resilient to Denial of Service (DoS) attacks and improves the DNS response for local communities by providing shorter paths between clients and servers. Prior to this local deployment, Qtel Internet subscribers encountered average delay times of 200ms. The introduction of this instance of K-root should see delays drop to around 15ms, a 90% reduction.
The RIPE NCC has operated the K-root server since 1997 when the first server was installed at the London Internet Exchange (LINX) in London, UK. RIPE NCC technicians have deployed instances of the K-root server, hosted at the LINX, at the AMS-IX in Amsterdam, the DE-CIX, Frankfurt and the AIX, Athens. There are plans to have up to 10 instances of the K-root server deployed by the end of 2004.
Information about this node and the general requirements and guidelines for expressions of interest for hosting a mirror instance of K-root can be found on the K-root website