Agreement with ICANN to Install a New Root Server in the Region

28/03/2012

This agreement will allow improving direct Internet connection for users and Internet service providers around Latin America and the Caribbean.

Agreement with ICANN to Install a New Root Server in the Region

The Latin American and Caribbean Internet Addresses Registry (LACNIC) and the organization responsible for managing Internet addresses, ICANN (the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers), signed an agreement for deploying copies of the “L” root server in Latin America and the Caribbean.

This agreement will allow expanding the efforts promoted by LACNIC within the region aimed at improving direct Internet connection for users and Internet service providers around Latin America and the Caribbean, thus improving the chance of using technology in benefit of development and an increase in the population’s standard of living.

The copy of the “L” root server installation in the region was made possible by an agreement signed between LACNIC’s Executive Director, Raul Echeberria, and ICANN‘s CEO and Chairman, Rod Beckstrom, during the 43rd annual meeting of the organization responsible for managing Internet domain names and numbers, which was held in San Jose, Costa Rica from March 11 to 16.

“We are very pleased to have signed this agreement with ICANN, as it will bring about concrete improvements in terms of Internet stability and performance that will benefit the Latin American and Caribbean community”, said LACNIC’s CEO.

The “L” server is one of 13 original Internet servers installed around the world (ten of them in the United States, two in Europe, one in Japan) and it is managed by ICANN. Due to a technical limitation it is not possible to increase the number of original servers to more than 13; for this reason, a technology known as anycast was developed that allows creating clones (mirror copies) which, once in operation, are indistinguishable from the original servers.

The agreement signed with ICANN allows expanding +RAICES, a project that LACNIC has been implementing since 2004. This project has made it possible to install root server copies in Latin America and the Caribbean with the aim of improving Internet access around the continent and making a relevant contribution to Internet stability both at regional and global level.

“The +RAICES project is a concrete example of the multi-stakeholder collaboration efforts that are taking place in our region, bringing together public and private sector organizations, academia, civil society, and the technical community”, added Mr. Echeberria.

To date, +RAICES has allowed installing a total of seven root server copies in the region, in Chile, Argentina, Venezuela, Panama, Ecuador, Haiti, and St. Maarten.