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Unit III - Name Services and Domain Name System

Name services facilitate the resolution of human-readable names into identifiers, simplifying interactions in distributed systems and enabling location independence. The Domain Name System (DNS) is a hierarchical name service crucial for translating domain names into IP addresses, with various components including name servers and resolvers. Security concerns such as DNS spoofing and DDoS attacks highlight the vulnerabilities associated with these systems.

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16 views14 pages

Unit III - Name Services and Domain Name System

Name services facilitate the resolution of human-readable names into identifiers, simplifying interactions in distributed systems and enabling location independence. The Domain Name System (DNS) is a hierarchical name service crucial for translating domain names into IP addresses, with various components including name servers and resolvers. Security concerns such as DNS spoofing and DDoS attacks highlight the vulnerabilities associated with these systems.

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Unit III - Name Services and

Domain Name System


Introduction to Name Services in Distributed Systems
Definition: Name services allow users and applications to resolve human-readable names (e.g., filenames,
resource names, server names) into identifiers (such as IP addresses or file handles).

Importance:

● Simplifies interactions in distributed systems by providing a way to locate resources.


● Enables transparency and location independence, meaning users don’t need to know the physical location
of resources.

Common Use Cases:

● Resolving URLs to IP addresses (e.g., DNS).


● Mapping logical names (like file names or email addresses) to resources.
Characteristics of Name Services
Distributed: The name service itself is distributed across multiple servers.
Scalable: Must scale as the number of users and resources grows.
Fault-tolerant: Should be resilient to failures in parts of the system.
Consistency: Needs mechanisms to ensure consistency in case of updates to
mappings.
Components of Name Services
● Name space: A set of possible names and the rules for their
construction.
● Name resolution: The process of mapping a name to an address or
identifier.
● Binding: The association between a name and an address (or
identifier).
● Context: A subset of a namespace that can be managed by a single
authority.
Components of Name Services
● Flat Name Service:
○ Names are unique and randomly assigned.
○ Suitable for small-scale systems or internal components where name
collisions are rare.
● Hierarchical Name Service:
○ Names are structured in a hierarchical format (e.g., DNS or file systems).
○ Ensures uniqueness and allows for distributed management of names.
● Decentralized Name Service:
○ Names and name resolution are distributed across a peer-to-peer network,
as seen in blockchain-based naming systems.
Types of Name Services
Flat Name Service:

● Names are unique and randomly assigned.


● Suitable for small-scale systems or internal components where name collisions are rare.

Hierarchical Name Service:

● Names are structured in a hierarchical format (e.g., DNS or file systems).


● Ensures uniqueness and allows for distributed management of names.

Decentralized Name Service:

● Names and name resolution are distributed across a peer-to-peer network, as seen in
blockchain-based naming systems.
Domain Name System (DNS)
DNS is a hierarchical name service used to translate domain names (e.g.,
www.example.com) into IP addresses.

DNS is essential for the operation of the internet, allowing users to access resources
by names instead of numeric IP addresses.
https://www.webnic.cc/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/dns-blog-img01.png
DNS Architecture
Domain Names: Structured into a hierarchy (e.g., com, example.com,
www.example.com).

● Root domain: The top-level node (.).


● Top-Level Domains (TLDs): .com, .org, .net, .edu, etc.
● Second-Level Domains: example.com, google.com, etc.
● Subdomains: www.example.com, mail.google.com, etc.
DNS Architecture (continued…)
● DNS Records:
○ A record: Maps a domain name to an IPv4 address.

○ AAAA record: Maps a domain name to an IPv6 address.


○
MX(Mail Exchanger) record: Specifies the mail server for a domain.
○
CNAME(Canonical Name) record: Maps one domain name to another domain name.
○
TXT record: Holds arbitrary text data for various purposes like domain verification.
The TXT record was originally intended as a place for human-readable notes. However,
now it is also possible to put some machine-readable data into TXT records. One domain
can have many TXT records.
DNS Components
● Name Servers:
○ Root Name Servers: Handle requests for top-level domain (TLD) name servers.
○ Authoritative Name Servers: Provide answers for specific domains (e.g.,
google.com’s authoritative name servers).
○ Caching Name Servers: Store DNS query results temporarily to improve speed
and reduce load.

● Resolvers:
○ Client-side DNS component that initiates the DNS lookup process.
○ Typically built into the operating system or network software.
How DNS Works (Name Resolution Process)
● Step 1: The client sends a query (e.g., www.example.com) to the DNS resolver.
● Step 2: The resolver checks its cache for a recent answer.
● Step 3: If no cached result is available, the resolver contacts a root name server.
● Step 4: The root name server directs the resolver to a TLD name server (e.g.,
for .com).
● Step 5: The TLD name server directs the resolver to the authoritative name server
for the domain (e.g., example.com).
● Step 6: The authoritative name server returns the IP address for the requested
domain.
● Step 7: The resolver caches the result and returns the IP address to the client.
DNS Caching
● Purpose: To reduce the load on DNS servers and speed up resolution for frequently
accessed domains.
● Cache TTL (Time To Live): Each DNS record has a TTL value, specifying how long the
result should be cached.
● Issues:
○ Stale Caches: If DNS records are updated, cached data may be outdated.
○ Cache Poisoning: An attack where incorrect DNS data is inserted into the resolver’s
cache.
Security Concerns with DNS
● DNS Spoofing/Poisoning: Redirecting a domain name to a malicious IP by tampering
with DNS records.

● DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service): DNS servers can be targeted to flood them with
traffic, disrupting services.

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