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A root name server is a
name server A name server refers to the server component of the Domain Name System (DNS), one of the two principal namespaces of the Internet. The most important function of DNS servers is the translation (resolution) of human-memorable domain names (example ...
for the root zone of the
Domain Name System The Domain Name System (DNS) is a hierarchical and distributed naming system for computers, services, and other resources in the Internet or other Internet Protocol (IP) networks. It associates various information with domain names assigned t ...
(DNS) of the
Internet The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, pub ...
. It directly answers requests for records in the root zone and answers other requests by returning a list of the
authoritative name server A name server refers to the server component of the Domain Name System (DNS), one of the two principal namespaces of the Internet. The most important function of DNS servers is the translation (resolution) of human-memorable domain names (example. ...
s for the appropriate
top-level domain A top-level domain (TLD) is one of the domains at the highest level in the hierarchical Domain Name System of the Internet after the root domain. The top-level domain names are installed in the root zone of the name space. For all domains in ...
(TLD). The root name servers are a critical part of the Internet infrastructure because they are the first step in resolving human-readable host names into
IP address An Internet Protocol address (IP address) is a numerical label such as that is connected to a computer network that uses the Internet Protocol for communication.. Updated by . An IP address serves two main functions: network interface ident ...
es that are used in communication between Internet hosts. A combination of limits in the DNS and certain protocols, namely the practical size of unfragmented
User Datagram Protocol In computer networking, the User Datagram Protocol (UDP) is one of the core communication protocols of the Internet protocol suite used to send messages (transported as datagrams in packets) to other hosts on an Internet Protocol (IP) network ...
(UDP) packets, resulted in a decision to limit the number of root servers to thirteen server addresses. The use of
anycast Anycast is a network addressing and routing methodology in which a single destination IP address is shared by devices (generally servers) in multiple locations. Routers direct packets addressed to this destination to the location nearest the sen ...
addressing permits the actual number of root server instances to be much larger, and is 1,553 .


Root domain

The DNS is a hierarchical naming system for computers, services, or any resource participating in the
Internet The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, pub ...
. The top of that hierarchy is the
root domain The DNS root zone is the top-level DNS zone in the hierarchical namespace of the Domain Name System (DNS) of the Internet. Before October 1, 2016, the root zone had been overseen by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN ...
. The root domain does not have a formal name and its label in the DNS hierarchy is an
empty string In formal language theory, the empty string, or empty word, is the unique string of length zero. Formal theory Formally, a string is a finite, ordered sequence of characters such as letters, digits or spaces. The empty string is the special cas ...
. All
fully qualified domain name A fully qualified domain name (FQDN), sometimes also referred to as an ''absolute domain name'', is a domain name that specifies its exact location in the tree hierarchy of the Domain Name System (DNS). It specifies all domain levels, including th ...
s (FQDNs) on the Internet can be regarded as ending with this empty string for the root domain, and therefore ending in a full stop character (the label delimiter), e.g., "". This is generally implied rather than explicit, as modern DNS software does not actually require that the terminating dot be included when attempting to translate a domain name to an IP address. The root domain contains all top-level domains of the Internet. , it contained 1058 TLDs, including 730
generic top-level domain Generic top-level domains (gTLDs) are one of the categories of top-level domains (TLDs) maintained by the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) for use in the Domain Name System of the Internet. A top-level domain is the last level of eve ...
s (gTLDs) and 301
country code top-level domain A country code top-level domain (ccTLD) is an Internet top-level domain generally used or reserved for a country, sovereign state, or dependent territory identified with a country code. All ASCII ccTLD identifiers are two letters long, and all ...
s (ccTLDs) in the root domain. In addition, the domain is used for technical
name space In computing, a namespace is a set of signs (''names'') that are used to identify and refer to objects of various kinds. A namespace ensures that all of a given set of objects have unique names so that they can be easily identified. Namespaces ...
s in the management of Internet addressing and other resources. A domain is used for testing
internationalized domain name An internationalized domain name (IDN) is an Internet domain name that contains at least one label displayed in software applications, in whole or in part, in non-latin script or alphabet, such as Arabic, Bengali, Chinese ( Mandarin, simplif ...
s.


Resolver operation

When a computer on the Internet needs to resolve a domain name, it uses resolver software to perform the lookup. A resolver breaks the name up into its labels from right to left. The first component (TLD) is queried using a root server to obtain the responsible authoritative server. Queries for each label return more specific name servers until a name server returns the answer of the original query. In practice, most of this information does not change very often over a period of hours and therefore it is cached by intermediate name servers or by a name cache built into the user's application. DNS lookups to the root name servers may therefore be relatively infrequent. A survey in 2003 reported that only 2% of all queries to the root servers were legitimate. Incorrect or non-existent caching was responsible for 75% of the queries, 12.5% were for unknown TLDs, 7% were for lookups using IP addresses as if they were domain names, etc. Some misconfigured desktop computers even tried to update the root server records for the TLDs. A similar list of observed problems and recommended fixes has been published in RFC 4697. Although any local implementation of DNS can implement its own private root name servers, the term "root name server" is generally used to describe the thirteen well-known root name servers that implement the root name space domain for the Internet's official global implementation of the Domain Name System. Resolvers use a small 3 KB ''root.hints'' file published by Internic to bootstrap this initial list of root server addresses.


Root server addresses

There are 13 logical root name servers specified, with logical names in the form , where ranges from a to m. The choice of thirteen name servers was made because of limitations in the original DNS specification, which specifies a maximum packet size of 512 bytes when using the
User Datagram Protocol In computer networking, the User Datagram Protocol (UDP) is one of the core communication protocols of the Internet protocol suite used to send messages (transported as datagrams in packets) to other hosts on an Internet Protocol (IP) network ...
(UDP). Technically however, fourteen name servers fit into an IPv4 packet. The addition of IPv6 addresses for the root name servers requires more than 512 bytes, which is facilitated by the EDNS0 extension to the DNS standard. This does not mean that there are only 13 physical servers; each operator uses redundant computer equipment to provide reliable service even if failure of hardware or software occurs. Additionally, all operate in multiple geographical locations using a routing technique called
anycast Anycast is a network addressing and routing methodology in which a single destination IP address is shared by devices (generally servers) in multiple locations. Routers direct packets addressed to this destination to the location nearest the sen ...
addressing, providing increased performance and even more fault tolerance. An informational homepage exists for every logical server (except G-Root) under th
Root Server Technical Operations Association
domain with web address in the form , where ranges from a to m. Ten servers were originally in the United States; all are now operated using anycast addressing. Three servers were originally located in Stockholm (I-Root), Amsterdam (K-Root), and Tokyo (M-Root) respectively. Older servers had their own name before the policy of using similar names was established. With anycast, most of the physical root servers are now outside the United States, allowing for high performance worldwide. There are also several alternative namespace systems with an
alternative DNS root The Internet uses the Domain Name System (DNS) to associate numeric computer IP addresses with human-readable names. The top level of the domain name hierarchy, the DNS root, contains the top-level domains that appear as the suffixes of all Intern ...
using their own set of root name servers that exist in parallel to the mainstream name servers. The first, AlterNIC, generated a substantial amount of press. The function of a root name server may also be implemented locally, or on a provider network. Such servers are synchronized with the official root zone fil
as published
by ICANN, and do not constitute an alternate root. As the root name servers are an important part of the Internet, they have come under attack several times, although none of the attacks have ever been serious enough to severely affect the performance of the Internet.


Root server supervision

The DNS Root Server System Advisory Committee is an ICANN committee. ICANN's bylaws assign authority over the operation of the root name servers of the
Domain Name System The Domain Name System (DNS) is a hierarchical and distributed naming system for computers, services, and other resources in the Internet or other Internet Protocol (IP) networks. It associates various information with domain names assigned t ...
to the DNS Root Server System Advisory Committee.


Root zone file

The root zone file is a small (about 2 MB) data set whose publication is the primary purpose of root name servers. This is not to be confused with the ''root.hints'' file used to bootstrap a resolver. The root zone file is at the apex of a hierarchical distributed database called the
Domain Name System The Domain Name System (DNS) is a hierarchical and distributed naming system for computers, services, and other resources in the Internet or other Internet Protocol (IP) networks. It associates various information with domain names assigned t ...
(DNS). This database is used by almost all Internet applications to translate worldwide unique names such as ''www.wikipedia.org'' into other identifiers such as
IP address An Internet Protocol address (IP address) is a numerical label such as that is connected to a computer network that uses the Internet Protocol for communication.. Updated by . An IP address serves two main functions: network interface ident ...
es. The contents of the root zone file is a list of names and numeric IP addresses of the root domain authoritative DNS servers for all
top-level domains A top-level domain (TLD) is one of the domains at the highest level in the hierarchical Domain Name System of the Internet after the root domain. The top-level domain names are installed in the root zone of the name space. For all domains in ...
(TLDs) such as com, org, edu, and the
country code top-level domain A country code top-level domain (ccTLD) is an Internet top-level domain generally used or reserved for a country, sovereign state, or dependent territory identified with a country code. All ASCII ccTLD identifiers are two letters long, and all ...
s (it also includes that info for root domain, the dot). On 12 December 2004, 773 different authoritative servers for the TLDs were listed. Later the number of TLDs increased greatly. , the root zone consisted of 1511 useful TLDs (excluded are: 55 domains that are not assigned, 8 that are retired, and 11 test domains). Other name servers forward queries for which they do not have any information about authoritative servers to a root name server. The root name server, using its root zone file, answers with a referral to the authoritative servers for the appropriate TLD or with an indication that no such TLD exists.ISOC, ''DNS Root Name Servers explained for the non-expert'',
Available online
accessed 19 March 2010.)


See also

* Blackhole server * Distributed denial-of-service attacks on root nameservers *
Extension Mechanisms for DNS Extension Mechanisms for DNS (EDNS) is a specification for expanding the size of several parameters of the Domain Name System (DNS) protocol which had size restrictions that the Internet engineering community deemed too limited for increasing fun ...
(Extended DNS, version 0) *
Internet backbone The Internet backbone may be defined by the principal data routes between large, strategically interconnected computer networks and core routers of the Internet. These data routes are hosted by commercial, government, academic and other high-ca ...
* Open Root Server Network * .root


Notes


References


Further reading


Root Server Technical Operations Association

List of Root Servers, IANA

Root Servers' Geographical Locations on Google Maps

DNS Root Server System Advisory Committee

DNS Root Name Servers Explained For Non-Experts

DNS Root Name Servers Frequently Asked QuestionsLocation of Root servers in Asia-Pacific

Bogus Queries received at the Root Servers
* – IAB Technical Comment on the Unique DNS Root * – Root Name Server Operational Requirements * – Observed DNS Resolution Misbehavior (from observations on the Root Servers)
ORSN, Open Root Server Network – an unrelated, competing DNS-based name infrastructure

RSSAC023, about the origins


External links


Root Server Technical Operations Association

Root Files, IANA

orsn.org Open Root Server Networkroot-servers.net.zone

DNS root nameservers explained for non-experts
{{DEFAULTSORT:Root Name Server Domain Name System