To get things started

Dear colleagues,

As this new mailing list (dns-wg at ripe.net) has been created and the discussion 
about a second root server in Europa started I would like to say few words.

SWITCH has run an inofficial root name server *) here in Zuerich for quite 
some time. The reason for setting up this service was the bad connectivity to 
the US internet in the past. This service was been offered not only to the 
Swiss universities but to everybody else who wanted to use it. The matter 
was discussed in the RIPE meetings.

*) The file domain/root.zone is periodically fetched via anonymous FTP 
   from nic.ddn.mil. But no information for the toplevel domains edu, com, org,
   ... is used.

SWITCH offers to officially host and operate a secondary root server. 
The server would be placed in the western part of Switzerland with good 
connectivity to CERN (2 Mbit/s, 128 kbit/s backup). This location complements
well the root server at NORDUnet. The name server would run on a state of 
the art SUN server, connected to an uninterruptable power source and be
managed by adequat staff.

In fact this DNS service is part of an offer SWITCH has handed in to the 
RARE Operational Unit recently. What the relation to RIPE is concerned I 
would like to cite from this proposal:

  "The operation of the root server should be guided by RIPE NCC under the
  auspice of RARE. The DNS server manager will have to attend RIPE meetings 
  where the set-up of all the DNS servers is discussed and defined."

With this message I hope to stimulate the discussion about root name
servers in Europa.


Willi Huber
SWITCH