Research Article
Assessing the Impact of DNS Configuration on Low Bandwidth Networks
@INPROCEEDINGS{10.1007/978-3-031-34896-9_6, author={J. A. Okuthe and A. Terzoli}, title={Assessing the Impact of DNS Configuration on Low Bandwidth Networks}, proceedings={Towards new e-Infrastructure and e-Services for Developing Countries. 14th EAI International Conference, AFRICOMM 2022, Zanzibar, Tanzania, December 5-7, 2022, Proceedings}, proceedings_a={AFRICOMM}, year={2023}, month={6}, keywords={Bandwidth Utilization Local Loop Cache Time-to-Live}, doi={10.1007/978-3-031-34896-9_6} }- J. A. Okuthe
A. Terzoli
Year: 2023
Assessing the Impact of DNS Configuration on Low Bandwidth Networks
AFRICOMM
Springer
DOI: 10.1007/978-3-031-34896-9_6
Abstract
Domain name system (DNS) is an essential enabler for connecting users and services on the Internet. DNS translates human readable domain names into IP addresses and precedes client connection to a server via a domain name. DNS service is therefore expected to consume network bandwidth even though it offers no direct benefit to the user. Having observed the large component of DNS traffic on the community network local loop in our previous study, we migrated the DNS service from a server on the LAN to the gateway router and reconfigured the cache time-to-live. Results from the analysis of network traffic captured from the gateway router interface show a 26% decrease in the downlink bandwidth utilization and 46% decline in the uplink bandwidth utilization. The DNS component of the local loop traffic reduces from 45.28% to 4.11%. On the other hand, the Web component of the local loop traffic increases from 49.42% to 95.49%. Data collected from a mirroring port on the LAN switch indicate a decrease in the DNS portion of the internal traffic from 0.38% to 0.18%. Although the DNS reconfiguration helps alleviate network bandwidth constraints and reduces DNS component of the traffic, the Web portion increases. The implementation of effective, efficient and sustainable Web traffic management is therefore required.
