There are some things that we use daily without having the slightest idea of what they actually mean. DNS servers (Domain Name System) are the perfect example of that. Being a link in the chain of information exchanges, they are at the very center of the Internet network we know today.
Our websites are depending on them, and sometimes a bit too much… In this article, discover the different options you have when setting up your website.
What is a DNS server? What is it for?
DNS servers at the source of Internet network
Let’s head back to the beginning.
First of all, a website is always associated with a domain name. When an Internet user wants to visit a website, his device needs to know where to get the data to display.
To be understood by the device, this information is transmitted via an IP address. This address is stored on a server: the DNS server.
To summarize, the DNS server translates a domain name (« netim.com ») into an IP address (« 172.66.43.171 »). This is called DNS resolution.
What is the point of DNS servers?
The whole purpose of the operation is to identify where the information related to a domain is stored.
Actually, if DNS servers did not exist, we would have to keep an address book with all the IP addresses of all the websites we would like to visit. Then, we would have to enter those addresses manually to display the content on our devices.
In a nutshell, a DNS server works like a gigantic directory that knows all the IP addresses of all the websites. While these servers are essential to the good functioning of the internet, some allow a more or less developed optimization.
Unicast or Anycast DNS, what difference for your website?
As you will have now realised, the configuration of your DNS servers is essential for the proper functioning and especially the accessibility of your website.
There are two main types of DNS servers on the market: Anycast DNS and Unicast DNS. The key difference between these two models lies in how DNS queries are routed to the servers.
Unicast DNS
In the case of a Unicast DNS server, DNS information is stored in a single location: the one where the DNS server is physically hosted. The server has a unique IP address.
All devices attempting to access your website will query this one server, regardless of the users’ geographic location. As a result, if your server is located in the United States and the user is in France, the response time will be increased.
Similarly, if the DNS server crashes or is attacked, your site will no longer be accessible without a fallback solution.
Anycast DNS
It is based on this observation that an alternative system was developed: Anycast DNS servers. These servers duplicate DNS information by sharing the same IP address across all servers in the global network.
This means that, depending on your location, your device will query the server that is geographically closest to you.
The map of Anycast DNS servers used by Netim
In the map below, discover our two Anycast networks and the locations of their DNS servers.
What are the advantages of Anycast DNS?
Three key advantages stand out with the Anycast DNS server model: response time, SEO performance, and accessibility.
Optimized response time
First, thanks to the Anycast DNS technology the user will be redirected to the closest server. This decrease in the physical distance allows a decrease of the response time.
Subsidiary one would think, but absolutely not! A site that takes time to load scares off Internet users, and drastically increases the bounce rate.
Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)
To counter these bounce rates, search engine (such as Google) assign an average “eligible” loading time per site. By optimising your response time, you improve your “score” with search engines, and therefore your ranking in search results.
A particularly important bonus when one knows the small share of click on the sites ranked after the first pages of results.
Guaranteed accessibility
As mentioned earlier, Unicast DNS servers store DNS information in a single location. Therefore, in the event of a breakdown? or simply if the server is too far away geographically, DNS resolution can fail, making your website inaccessible.
By using the Anycast DNS server model, these risks are largely eliminated. If one server goes down, another server (the one closest to the user) will automatically take over.
Similarly, in the case of a DDoS attack, for example, the traffic is distributed across multiple servers, which limits the impact of the attack on the overall network.
Finally, DNS servers are an essential component in ensuring optimal online visibility. That’s why Netimprovides Anycast DNS servers by default, to guarantee security, accessibility, and performance for all our clients.
🖊️ Explore all our articles on domain names.
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