Composite DNS Zones for Multi-Entity Management
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Solution Overview
Problem
The existing DNS system faces challenges in expanding its capabilities to meet the increasing demands of diverse applications while maintaining compatibility with current uses, particularly in managing hierarchical DNS zones and handling multiple authoritative servers.
Innovation Solution
A composite DNS zone is introduced, comprising multiple component DNS zones controlled by different entities, which can be viewed as a single zone, allowing for flexible management and response to DNS requests through a composite DNS server that includes a DNS protocol engine, query engine, and assembler to process requests across multiple zones.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a single DNS zone is used to maintain simplicity and compatibility, then ease of operation is improved, but adaptability to diverse applications deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides a single DNS zone into multiple component zones, each managed by different entities with different policies. The composite zone aggregates these component zones while presenting a unified interface to clients, enabling both operational simplicity and management flexibility simultaneously.
2Adaptability or versatility
If multiple authoritative servers are introduced to expand capabilities, then adaptability is improved, but device complexity deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges multiple component zones into a single composite zone that is queried through a unified DNS query interface. The complexity of managing multiple authoritative servers is abstracted away, as clients interact with the composite zone through standard DNS protocols without needing to know about the underlying multiple zones.
3Adaptability or versatility
If multiple component zones are aggregated into a composite zone, then adaptability is improved, but information retrieval complexity deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The composite zone acts as an intermediary layer between clients and multiple component zones. It receives DNS queries from clients, distributes them to appropriate component zones, aggregates the results, and returns a unified answer to the client. This mediator approach simplifies information retrieval for clients while enabling access to multiple specialized zones.
Data Source
AI summary
A plurality of separate DNS zones are combined to form a composite DNS zone. The composite DNS zone is viewed as a single DNS zone by other elements on the network. Each of the separate DNS zones becomes a component DNS zone within the composite DNS zone but can still be separately owned and managed using standard DNS protocols. As such, the composite DNS zone provides a transparent method of combining DNS data owned by separate parties into a single location that can be searched using a DNS request of the prior art.DNS requests directed to the composite DNS zone may result in a plurality of answer candidates. Some embodiments include algorithms for searching the composite DNS zone and assembling a DNS answer from the plurality of answer candidates. The composite DNS zone may include telephonic DNS data according to the ENUM standard.