Location Aware DNS Speeds Up Content Access

 

What looks like a trivial enhancement (at least conceptually) to the Internet's DNS protocol promises to help internet users get a faster service.

The "Global Internet Speedup", supported by Google and OpenDNS, implements a small change to DNS queries so users will enjoy the full advantage of CDNs and get the content they ask from the closets server.

Participating CDNs include BitGravity, CDNetworks, Cloudflare, Comodo and EdgeCast.

"When trying to reach a website that exists in 50 locations around the world .. You want to be sent to the closest, fastest or least congested location automatically.  Until now, figuring out which location is closest to you was not possible with DNS alone. Today, if you’re using OpenDNS or Google Public DNS and visiting a website or using a service provided by one of the participating networks or CDNs in the Global Internet Speedup then a truncated version of your IP address will be added into the DNS request. The Internet service or CDN will use this truncated IP address to make a more informed decision in how it responds so that you can be connected to the most optimal server"

See how it works - here and the proposed IETF draft - here and a press release "Global Internet Speedup Initiative Announced; Technology Companies Band Together on Innovation to Make the Internet Faster Around the World" - here.