Liquid Telecom has successfully migrated its customers to the Anycast Domain Name System (DNS), guaranteeing them near 100 per cent server uptime at faster speeds
Some ISPs use the Unicast DNS platform running on one server, sometimes with a single backup unit, to convert the website names into IP addresses so that users can access those sites, which could be on a server anywhere in the world. In the event of a natural disaster, power outage, sabotage or data fraud, servers using the Unicast DNS can go down, or in the case of heavy user traffic, there can be a long queue of requests. All of these factors can lead to downtime that is noticeable for Internet users.
The Anycast DNS platform uses multiple servers to route the conversion of website names into IP addresses and automatically switches users to the closest functional server without any interruption.
Liquid Telecom has set up parallel servers in Kenya, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Uganda and the UK, which minimises interruptions to business operations and benefits customers’ Internet experience.
“With Anycast DNS, packets keep flowing. We can upgrade or take a server offline for maintenance without any effect. The client never notices the outage on the recursive server, all he knows is that his servers are working perfectly and the customers are happy,” said Andrew Alston, head of IP strategy at Liquid Telecom.
The new Anycast DNS is primarily for Liquid Telecom’s customers but the company has also made it publicly available, offering a faster, African alternative to Google’s public DNS. It is faster than Google’s service because Liquid Telecom’s servers are based in Africa.
The company has introduced the Anycast DNS service in its existing markets, and has plans to roll it out in Tanzania and Malawi soon.
