Impact of DNS Root Servers in the Region

The installation of root server copies in the countries of the LAC region has substantially improved response times to queries from most Latin American and Caribbean countries, according to the study titled “Use of DNS Root Servers in Latin America”.

Conducted by Chilean expert Hugo Salgado between the months of June and September 2019 and supervised by LACNIC, the study compared Internet measurements in the countries of the region and conducted a historical analysis of the performance of the root servers installed since 2013 with the support of LACNIC's +RAICES Program.

According to the report prepared by Salgado, results show a “clear and continuous evolution towards improved route server reachability” in Latin America and the Caribbean over the past six years.

This has resulted in greater Internet stability and resilience in the region thanks to the presence of root server copies in most countries, and ultimately in an improved user experience in Internet browsing.

The study notes that specific “moments of change” and improvements have to do with the installation of the F-, K-, L- and I-root servers promoted by the +RAICES Program, “which strengthen these initiatives and encourage the region to continue to deploy new copies.”

The study used more than one thousand RIPLE Atlas measurement probes installed in the countries of the region to gather data on the performance of Internet connections. These devices permanently measure and analyze the responsiveness of Internet infrastructure such as root servers from different points of the network.

By analyzing the responses times for each root server (a.root-servers.net, b.root-server.net, …, m.root-servers.net), it is possible to determine the ones with the greatest presence in the region and, in turn, the countries from which there is better access to each one of the root servers as well as the countries where there is a deficit of copies. The study by Salgado also shows an increase in the number of copies and improved response times in line with the evolution of the +RAICES Program.

In general, the study concludes that that 58% of the countries in the region have at least one root server reachable with a Round Trip Time (RTT) lower than 50 ms, “an acceptable response time for a DNS query.”

The researcher expects that response times will continue to improve with the installation of new internal DNS root server mirrors.
Since 2013, LACNIC launches an annual call for proposals to encourage the deployment of root servers in the LAC region, promoting their installation for the purpose of improving Internet infrastructure.

Read the full study here.