Seventeen DNS severs copies already installed in the region

24/09/2015

The F root server copy recently installed in Uruguay is the seventeenth copy of a domain name system root server to be installed in Latin America and the Caribbean through LACNIC’s +Raíces program.

The latest server was installed in Montevideo as part of an agreement between LACNIC and Antel, Uruguay’s leading Internet connectivity provider. The +Raíces program promotes strengthening global infrastructure and Internet stability.

The 17 root server copies already installed in Latin America and the Caribbean have benefited the region’s users, as they’ve had a positive impact on how Internet connection speed is perceived and strengthened Internet infrastructure by increasing service stability.

“Our role consists in coordinating efforts with the region’s institutions and providers to promote the installation of new root servers in order to maintain a stable Internet in Latin America and the Caribbean,” said Oscar Robles, LACNIC’s CEO.

In the case of Uruguay, the new server was installed in Antel’s Pocitos Data Center, as this location’s design and construction meet the industry’s highest standards of quality and safety for housing critical infrastructure.

The F server is one of 13 original Internet servers installed worldwide (ten of them in the United States, two in Europe, one in Japan). Because a technical limitation makes it impossible to increase the number of original servers to more than 13,  a technology known as anycast was developed for creating clones (mirror copies) which, once in operation, are indistinguishable from the original servers.

+RAICES is a project launched by LACNIC in 2004 which has made it possible to install root server copies in Latin America and the Caribbean with the aim of improving Internet access throughout the continent and making a relevant contribution to Internet stability at both regional and global level.

To date, +RAICES has allowed installing a total of 17 root server copies in the LAC region, specifically in Uruguay (2), Chile (2), Argentina, Colombia, El Salvador, Venezuela (2), Panama (2), Ecuador (3), Haiti, Curazao, and St. Maarten.