Anycast DNS – Definition
Anycast DNS is a great mechanism for traffic routing. It distributes content through several nameservers that store one identical IP address.
Each one of the servers is positioned in various locations all over the world. That way, they are a lot closer to the potential users. All of this is for providing a better and faster response to the requests and an excellent user experience.
When a user requests a particular website, the server that is nearest and available is going to answer the query. So, the chance of experiencing any latency is reduced to a minimum. Your customers are going to e able to reach and connect to your website easily.
Moreover, in case the server that is closest is not operating for some reason, such as due to maintenance, the server next nearest will provide an answer to the query.
Anycast DNS always chooses the quickest route. That guarantees that your domain resolution will always be fast.
Benefits of using it
Configuring it is easy. You set up only one IP address, and after that, you share it with the group of servers in your network.
Decreased latency. Your users won’t wait long to load and access your website.
Load-balancing mechanism. Anycast DNS is fantastic for load balancing. The traffic is spread through your network of multiple servers without pressure at a single point. In addition, spikes are handled successfully.
Improved security. DoS and DDoS attacks are some of the leaders of the cyber threats networks and websites can experience. Unfortunately, technology for preventing and protecting against them is complicated and also very pricey.
There are a lot of different techniques that are used to initiate such attacks. However, the common thing is that they use massive amounts of traffic to overwhelm their targets. Because Anycast DNS could perform as a load-balancing mechanism, unusual traffic can be spread upon the network. That way, your defense is a lot stronger, and you keep your website protected.
Scalability is based on your needs. This is a feature that depends on the kind of service, provider, and plan you have. Yet typically, you could adjust the number of your Anycast DNS servers. Providers of Cloud-based DNS offer this easy and flexible opportunity for a subscription fee.
Quick reply to DNS requests. It doesn’t matter the location from where requests are sent. The answer will come through the fastest and quickest route.
Redundancy. Different situations, such as attacks, failures can shut down a server. However, holding a strong network with well-distributed servers, possibilities for all to fail simultaneously are very few. You can rely on having constant up-time.
Anycast DNS vs. Unicast DNS
- In Unicast DNS routing, the DNS resolver receives a list of many DNS name servers. It seeks on the first one on the list, then waits for its reply, or there is a timeout. Then it is able to proceed to the following on the list—this possibly causes latency.
- In Anycast DNS routing, resolvers receive only one anycast address for every group of name servers. In that approach, latency is not possible. There are no timeout pauses by a non-responsive nameserver. Anycast routing eliminates unreachable points of presence (PoP). The DNS resolver routed to the most nearby and available DNS server.