Re: [ncc-services-wg] Commercial DNS monitoring services at the NCC

[John Crain <john.crain@localhost]

Hi Jim, all

I wear too many hats to even remember which is which so I'll just put  
on my "I operate some DNS stuff hat".
Firstly I don't believe that adding e164.arpa zones to the monitoring  
will make a withdrawal from offering DNSMON services in the future any  
harder than it is today. The initial proposal is about extending the
space monitored.

Jim's underlying premise, correct me if I'm wrong Jim, is that the NCC  
should not be offering the DNSMON service at all.
I don't think anyone is advocating that the NCC is the only operator  
of such a service. I just don't see anyone offering anything remotely  
close to what DNSMON offers. As a operator DNSMON is "one of" the  
tools that I use to monitor my systems, I value it as a neutral  
addition to the pool of tools I have at my disposal.
I've always seen DNSMON more as a service to the community rather than  
to me as operator of one of the servers monitored. RIPE NCC was set up  
to help enable the collaboration that
was RIPE. It did become the RIR and is funded by the NCC members  
rather than all of RIPE but one of the underlying principles has  
always been to support the community and to offer services that add  
value to that community. The check and balance mechanism has always  
been the membership (and of course the board). If the members believe  
that this is a valid service for the NCC to offer, or in this case the  
extension of the service, then so be it.
You are correct, there is some risk that operating services like these  
can distort the market. It is something that during my time at the NCC  
we were very aware of and I am quite positive that this awareness has  
not lessened over the years. However without the RIPE NCC taking such  
projects on, I believe that we would not have things like the Test  
Traffic Measurement work RIPE NCC did, RIS or DNSMON and that  
would ,IMHO,  be a bad thing.
I personally think that at this moment the benefits of DNSMON still  
outweigh the risks.
John Crain

On 9 Oct 2007, at 08:35, Jim Reid wrote:

> On Oct 9, 2007, at 15:57, Andy Davidson wrote:
>
> > As for Jim's concerns - I will wait for him to submit his proposal.
> I thought I already had... :-)
>
> Here it is again, perhaps more explicitly than before.
>
> There a number of other organisations who are monitoring DNS  
> servers, some of whom may be willing to offer this as a commercial  
> service. IMO those advocating the NCC is the only provider of DNS  
> monitoring servers should demonstrate that that is the case, or that  
> alternative offerings are tainted in some way and cannot be as  
> impartial as the NCC's would be. If there really is no alternative,  
> then the justification for extending the scope of the NCC offering  
> is on stronger foundations. My earlier concerns still stand --  
> unless contradictory evidence emerges. Those concerns would  
> diminish, but not go away, if it does turn out that there is no  
> viable alternative and that fact is clearly documented.