Not too long ago OpenDNS was very upset with Google when they offered their Public DNS service. OpenDNS, a service I recommended previously, can be used instead of the DNS servers your ISP uses to give you a faster resolution of domain names to IP addresses. These days I will use either OpenDNS or Google Public DNS when troubleshooting issues or trying to optimize performance. Putting their hurts behind them, OpenDNS has partnered with Google and some of the smaller CDNs to announce the Global Internet Speedup Initiative.
The Global Internet Speedup enhances the way communication within the Domain Name System (DNS) is handled. The Internet has evolved from simple text-based pages to bandwidth intensive services such as video streaming, real-time communications and rich social networking that have become indispensable parts of our everyday lives. The DNS plays a critical role in delivering content fast, acting as one of the first pieces of the routing infrastructure that helps users get to content quickly and is the cornerstone for every major CDN. CDNs and other large Internet services typically direct the user to the nearest content server based on the location of the user’s DNS server rather than the location of the user themselves. This routing may result in slower Web page load times and decreased Internet performance if a user is not located near their DNS server.
I’m all for a faster internet connection and DNS lookups are a good place to start. As CDNs are becoming more prevalent, it makes perfect sense to truly take advantage of them. If DNS can point you to a closer server, the rest of your transactions with that server will be sped up as well.
“We’re very excited to team with Google and the world’s leading CDNs on such a significant improvement to the speed of the Internet,” said OpenDNS CEO David Ulevitch. “The initiative we’ve partnered on is based on open standards that any other network can adopt, making this technology available to anyone. We’re proud to be leading the charge together with the world’s leading Internet companies and CDNs and we’re stoked to be delivering speed improvements to our more than 30 million users and thousands of enterprise businesses.”