Monocultures have always turned out to be error-prone, risky and not able to survive. ironDNS® contributes to diversity on multiple levels. Diversity becomes the survival strategy.
Software Monocultures
More than 75% of all DNS queries are handled by a single software: BIND by ISC. This software is used by many registries, registrars and also DNS service providers. It is considered technically mature and very stable.
However, no software, no matter how well-tried, is completely flawless. This holds true for ironDNS® as well, of course. If one software exhibits a malfunction, this is normally not the case for a different implementation though. The Internet standards procedure, for example, prescribes that for an IETF specification there have to be at least two genetically independent implementations.
Handling diversity: a child's play
Malfunctions are the most common route of attack for Internet criminals and the biggest threat to a stable Internet.
Open-Source versus Closed-Source
The central principle of open-source software is that not only the executable program, but also the source code is made public. BIND as well as other DNS software follow this principle.
The advantage is obvious: Malfunctions are noticed and also remedied by many developers. The disadvantage: Criminals are also able to spot weak points and abuse them for malicious attacks, instead of informing the authors of the software.
ironDNS®, on the other hand, is not open-source, but so-called closed-source software. The in-house developers alone know the source code. And this will not change in the future. Program errors cannot be determined by third parties.
Another reason for the use of ironDNS® as an ideal complement for existing open-source infrastructures.
Colourful diversity is not only nice but also useful
Diversity of the operating system and the hardware
This is not the end of diversity yet. Even within ironDNS®, operation is ensured in diverse ways. Two operating systems are used: An open-source Linux variant on the one hand, a proprietary Unix widely used in cluster-based high-availability systems on the other hand.
This concept is carried forward to the hardware level, for example by using different processor technologies such as Intel and AMD.
Further interesting information around ironDNS®
