Dec 10 2017

Anycast DNS

Posted by Vitalie Cherpec

Today we have to announce that we successfully migrated to Anycast DNS, this is was a major achievement in our multi year roadmap.

Why Anycast DNS?

In Anycast a collection of servers share the same IP address and users are routed via BGP (Border gateway protocol) the closest data center. This leads to better response time and resilience against failures because the same set of name servers are distributed over multiple data centers.

Currently we are operating Anycast network via our custom AS number and our own prefixes:

Anycast DNS switch response time

As you can see from the graph, the response time improved after migration to Anycast DNS.

Migration

Current set of Unicast DNS servers will be ceased on February 1, 2018. If you use LuaDNS name servers (ns1-4.luadns.net) you are using the new Anycast servers already you don't have to do anything.

Users using LuaDNS servers via custom domain (vanity name servers) will have to update the IP addresses of name servers to point them the new IP address (zone & registrar):

  • ns1.luadns.net (185.142.218.1, 2001:67c:25a0::1)
  • ns2.luadns.net (185.142.218.2, 2001:67c:25a0::2)
  • ns3.luadns.net (185.142.218.3, 2001:67c:25a0::3)
  • ns4.luadns.net (185.142.218.4, 2001:67c:25a0::4)

The IP address for AXFR transfers is axfr.luadns.net (108.61.179.251).