With the rise of new infrastructure and other demands, the upgrade of the next generation domain name system is imminent

When it comes to the Internet domain name service system, many people will have a big question mark in their minds? What exactly is the domain name service system?

The Internet domain name service system consists of root, top-level domain names, and second-level and lower domain names.

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Industry insiders have explained in detail that when accessing the Internet, you need to go through a conversion process from a URL to an IP address, which is completed by a domain name resolution (DNS) server. For example, when you enter a URL (i.e., a domain name) on your mobile phone or computer, a resolution process from the domain name to an IP address is required, and the domain name resolution is completed by a domain name server. The domain name address is easy for people to remember, while the IP address is a network protocol address (for example: 192.168.1.0), which is not easy for people to remember, but is convenient for access between machines.

In short, the domain name resolution server realizes the mapping between domain names and IP addresses, solving the addressing problem in cyberspace.

Most people think that domain names only provide navigation and addressing functions, but this is not the case. As the Internet enters an unprecedented heyday, the significance of domain names to the country, especially to the development of enterprises, has risen to an irreplaceable position.

On the one hand, a good domain name is like a golden signboard, allowing users to easily find the website they want in the vast ocean of the Internet.

On the other hand, a good domain name is of great significance to the promotion and marketing of a company's brand. At present, major companies have paid high prices to register their own exclusive domain names, such as JD.com spent 30 million to buy jd.com, Xiaomi spent 22.44 million to acquire the domain name mi.com, 360 spent about 100 million to acquire 360.com, and Tencent spent 110,000 US dollars to buy the QQ.com domain name from an American software engineer.

It is reported that many sub-projects of giant companies such as BAT also have their own independent high-quality domain names.

It can be seen that the importance of domain names as intangible assets of enterprises is self-evident. Not only can they be used to make money from projects, but they can also be used as investments to appreciate in value.

Domain Name System - the "Navigation System" on the Internet Highway

Since domain names are of great significance to the development of enterprises as a golden signboard, the competition in this field is particularly fierce.

As we all know, my country has been held back by foreign countries in key core technologies. When it comes to monopoly, most people may think of chips and industrial software. However, domain names, as part of basic software, have also been held back by foreign countries.

When talking about the domain name service system, we also need to look at the history of the development of the Internet. The world's first network was born in the United States in 1969 and went online in December.

The "three-layer architecture" was established at the beginning of the Internet, namely: physical facility layer, basic resource layer, and application layer. The addressing and resolution system composed of the domain name system and IP address belongs to the basic resource layer. It connects our commonly used APPs with the physical infrastructure, thereby realizing a variety of powerful functions and slowly opening up the era of global interconnection.

Mao Wei, director of the National Engineering Research Center for the Internet Domain Name System (hereinafter referred to as "ZDNS"), further explained that the physical infrastructure layer is a wired and wireless network built by computing, storage, and networking, which is like an information highway; the application layer is various Internet-based applications such as finance, government affairs, shopping, entertainment, search, and social networking, just like cars running on the highway; there is also a basic resource layer between the two layers, which is an addressing and resolution system composed of the domain name system and IP addresses, like navigation. Once the navigation fails, the network will be disconnected.

The United States has taken advantage of its first-mover advantage to dominate the root server governance system. It is understood that of the world's only 13 root servers, the United States controls 10, including the main root, and the United Kingdom, Sweden, and Japan each have one. China only has the right to operate the mirror root, not the management right; and among the world's more than 1,500 top-level domain names, China has the management right for less than 3%...

This means that the United States can carry out precise strikes on specific targets through the domain name system. For example, in June this year, the U.S. Department of Justice, together with the Department of Commerce, shut down the domain name resolution of dozens of websites, including Iran's national television station, causing Iran to lose a large number of external information dissemination channels in a short period of time.

Xing Zhijie, general manager of ZDNS, told Leifeng.com that today, the game between major powers has extended to cyberspace, especially the US government's "Clean Network Operation" has touched the foundation of global interconnection, and there are risks of "root cutting" (denying access to root servers), "service suspension" (blocking interconnection through top-level domain management rights), and "supply cut" (not providing domain name basic software and equipment).

It can be seen that the domain name service system has the same fate as chips. If you want to break the monopoly of foreign countries, you still need to be prepared for difficulties. In this regard, Xing Zhijie suggested that first of all, you must persevere and have the spirit of being willing to sit on the bench. In the past, capital paid more attention to application and business model innovation, and basic technology, as an industry with a longer return on investment, was usually ignored.

Second, continue to focus on this field and accumulate

Finally, commercial exploration dares to touch the "hard bones".

Take ZDNS as an example. In terms of domain name system commercialization, its application in the financial field is relatively mature. But it was basically monopolized by foreign manufacturers for a long time. ZDNS stood out from such a competitive environment with its own technical strength and was successfully applied in the financial industry, ending the long-term monopoly of international manufacturers in the financial field. At present, its market share in the financial industry exceeds 50%.

Next-generation domain name system upgrade is imminent

Foreign countries' monopoly on domain names has made the country pay more and more attention to the domain name service system.

The 13th Five-Year Plan proposes to strengthen technical means of security supervision and comprehensive protection, and enhance the network security and emergency response capabilities of my country's domain name system; the "Action Plan for Promoting Large-Scale Deployment of Internet Protocol Version 6 (IPv6)" proposes to accelerate the upgrading and transformation of the domain name system.

Xing Zhijie admitted that in the process of transformation from old infrastructure to new infrastructure, the emergence of new technologies such as 5G, cloud, big data, and IPv6 all require continuous support and iteration of the domain name system, especially as enterprises begin to upgrade to the cloud, the traditional domain name system cannot meet enterprise requirements.

More importantly, the advent of the Internet of Everything era will lead to trillions of resolutions, and the domain name system will face greater challenges.

First, the number of terminals has grown from 100 million, 10 billion, and 10 billion. Second, changes in Internet architecture have brought about continuous digital transformation and technological iteration. Third, the requirements for performance are increasing day by day. Among these changes, the degree of change in China's Internet is the most complex and diverse in the world. These indicate that the upgrade of the next generation domain name system is imminent.

Xing Zhijie told Leifeng.com that the next generation of the domain name system will cover three complete parts: domain (Domain represents space), name (Name represents resources) and system (System represents software and hardware solutions), involving the comprehensive upgrade of Internet governance, network resources and software and hardware systems.

When asked how to achieve the historical mission of upgrading the next generation domain name system and reshaping the foundation of the Internet?

Xing Zhijie explained that we must start from the three dimensions of new system, new technology and new industry: the new system, with the Internet foundation, top-level domain and enterprise-level full-stack technology, participates in the governance of the global Internet system; the new technology, with independent and controllable technology to support the cloud, edge and end, to meet the needs of massive resolution and intelligent scheduling; the new industry, taking the digital transformation and new infrastructure as an opportunity, promotes the industrial upgrading of the traditional domain name industry.

Summarize

With the emergence and development of anything, opportunities and challenges often coexist.

The introduction of new infrastructure policies and the advent of the Internet of Everything era have brought about the emergence and development of new technologies such as 5G, big data, and artificial intelligence. However, the development of these new technologies often gives rise to new requirements. The domain name system, as a basic technology, is particularly important due to its unique value. It can be said that it is time to upgrade the next generation domain name system!

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