High performance DNS traffic management

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10084746-B2
Application number	US-201514948916-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 23, 2015
Priority date	Mar 15, 2013
Publication date	Sep 25, 2018
Grant date	Sep 25, 2018

Abstract

The present disclosure provides systems, methods, and products for high performance implementation of traffic management rules. In various embodiments, traffic management rules, such as DNS traffic management rules, are functionally expressed as rows in one or more lookup tables that are deployed to DNS resolution servers. The DNS resolution server uses the domain name, resource record type, traffic management rule types, and/or traffic management variable values to search for or look up an answer, from among multiple answers corresponding to the domain name and resource record type that meets the traffic management criteria. This look up is done without executing conventional traffic management code or scripts.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method, implemented via a computing system, for managing network traffic, the method comprising:
receiving, by a resolution server via a network, a set of traffic management rules;
translating, by the resolution server, each traffic management rule of the set of traffic management rules into corresponding entries in one or more traffic management tables, wherein each traffic management rule of the set of traffic management rules corresponds to one or more rows in the one or more traffic management tables;
receiving, by the resolution server, a Domain Name System (DNS) query from a client computer via the network, wherein the DNS query includes a domain name and resource record type;
upon receiving the DNS query, searching, by the resolution server, an initial traffic management rule in one of the one or more traffic management tables without executing a traffic management script, based on the domain name and resource record type as a search key, wherein the initial traffic management rule specifies a first variable that affects a DNS answer;
iterating, based on the initial traffic management rule, until the DNS answer to the DNS query is found, wherein the iterating comprises:
fetching, via the computing system, a value for another variable specified in a successive traffic management rule obtained from one of the one or more traffic management tables; and
searching, via the computing system, in one of the one or more traffic management tables the DNS answer or another successive traffic management rule based on the domain name, and the value for the another variable of the successive traffic management rule as a search key; and

transmitting, by the resolution server, the DNS answer to the client computer.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the initial traffic management rule is a DNS traffic management rule corresponding to a first plurality of rows in the one or more traffic management tables.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein:
the successive traffic management rule is a DNS traffic management rule corresponding to a second plurality of rows in the one or more traffic management tables; and
the another successive traffic management rule is a DNS traffic management rule corresponding to a third plurality of rows in the one or more traffic management tables.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
searching the one of the one or more traffic management tables for a plurality of resource records corresponding to the domain name and resource record type; and
wherein transmitting the DNS answer to the client computer further comprises transmitting the plurality of resource records to the client computer.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
searching in the one of the one or more traffic management tables, using the value for the another variable as a search key, information corresponding to the domain name and resource record type in addition to the DNS answer; and
transmitting the information to the client computer.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one of the one or more traffic management tables includes:
a plurality of indicators relating the initial traffic management rule,
the successive traffic management rule, and
the another successive traffic management rule.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the initial traffic management rule, the successive traffic management rule, and the another successive traffic management rule correspond to different traffic management scenarios.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one of the one or more traffic management tables is configurable by an owner of the domain name.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein searching the initial traffic management rule comprises:
matching the domain name and the resource record type with a corresponding a first domain name and a first resource record type recorded in a first row included in one of the one or more traffic management tables; and
fetching a first value for the first variable specified in the first row, wherein the first value comprises a rule type.

10. The method of claim 9 , further comprising:
generating, by the resolution server, a random number for the DNS query based on the first value, wherein the random number is applied against a query percentage in one of the one or more traffic management tables,
wherein the iterating further comprises determining, by the resolution server based on the random number, whether the domain name and the resource record type match a second domain name and resource record type recorded in a second row in the one or more traffic management tables.

11. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
precomputing, by the resolution server, a set of Domain Name System (DNS) signatures for a set of answers included in the one or more traffic management rule tables; and
storing, the set of DNS signatures in the one or more traffic management tables.

12. A non-transitory computer-readable medium containing instruction that when executed by a processor implement operations comprising:
receiving, via a network, a set of traffic management rules;
translating each traffic management rule of the set of traffic management rules into corresponding entries in one or more traffic management tables, wherein each traffic management rule of the set of traffic management rules corresponds to one or more rows in the one or more traffic management tables;
receiving a Domain Name System (DNS) query from a client computer via the network, wherein the DNS query includes a domain name and resource record type;
upon receiving the DNS query, searching, an initial traffic management rule in one of the one or more traffic management tables without executing a traffic management script, based on the domain name and resource record type as a search key, wherein the initial traffic management rule specifies a first variable that affects a DNS answer;
iterating, based on the initial traffic management rule, until the DNS answer to the DNS query is found, wherein the iterating comprises:
fetching a value for another variable specified in a successive traffic management rule obtained from the one of the one or more traffic management tables; and
searching in the one of the one or more traffic management tables the DNS answer or another successive traffic management rule based on the domain name and the value for the another variable of the successive traffic management rule as a search key; and

transmitting the DNS answer to the client computer.

13. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 12 , wherein the initial traffic management rule is a DNS traffic management rule corresponding to a first plurality of rows in the one or more traffic management tables.

14. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 13 , wherein:
the successive traffic management rule is a DNS traffic management rule corresponding to a second plurality of rows in the one or more traffic management tables; and
the another successive traffic management rule is a DNS traffic management rule corresponding to a third plurality of rows in the one or more traffic management tables.

15. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 12 , further comprising:
searching the one of the one or more traffic management tables for a plurality of resource records corresponding to the domain name and resource record type; and
wherein transmitting the DNS answer to the client computer further comprises transmitting the plurality of resource records to the client computer.

16. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 12 , t

Assignees

• Verisign Inc

Inventors

• James Stephen Daniel
• Das Arunabho

Classifications

• H04L41/00

  Arrangements for maintenance, administration or management of data switching networks, e.g. of packet switching networks · CPC title

• H04L47/10

  Flow control; Congestion control · CPC title

• H04L61/1552 Primary

  Electricity · mapped topic

• H04L61/1511

  Electricity · mapped topic

• H04L61/4511

  using domain name system [DNS] · CPC title