DNS Added!

In our quest to provide the best possible user experiences, we have recently added additional DNS (Domain Name Server) locations to our network.

Great you say! But how does that help me?

Each region on the DigiWorldz grid and all of our websites depend on DNS in order to function.
Each domain name on the internet relies on the ability to resolve the domain name to a specific ip address. Think of it like this; a domain name is like a person’s name and a DNS server is like a big phone book, and the ip address of a specific server like a phone number. Anytime you try to go to a different domain name on the internet, your computer first has to find the ip number associated with the domain in the DNS. Once the ip address is found, your transfer to this domain name begins.
This all happens behind the scenes, you don’t typically see this is happening, but it is.

The quicker your computer can find the correct ip address it needs, the faster your transfer begins and the faster you get where you want to go.

Each region inside the DigiWorldz grid is assigned a domain name.
Anytime you are logged into the grid and want to teleport to another region, your viewer first has to contact a dns server to find the ip associated with the region. Once this ip address is found, the transfer of your avatar to the new region begins, no matter if the location is on the DigiWorldz grid, or another grid, typically, a domain name needs to first be resolved to an ip address before the transfer can begin.

All domain name servers are not the same. Some are running windows, some are running linux. Some are lightly loaded, while some are very heavily loaded. Some are close to you, while others could be across the globe in another country.

The speed at which your computer can resolve an ip address is directly related to how close the domain name server is to your geographical location and how busy the domain server is. Additional factors such at network latency and capacity also play into this, but that’s for another time. All you really need to know is that typically, the closer a domain name server is to you, the faster it can respond with the ip address you have requested.

Previously, we had only 3 domain name servers, 1 in Ohio and 2 in Florida.
By adding these additional DNS locations, users from around the world will now have a faster response to the ip address requests which equates to faster teleports in the grid, faster loading of our websites, etc.
The locations we have added are:

USA, Texas
Europe, Germany
USA, New York
Canada, Vancouver
USA, California
Australia, Adelaide

These additions will provide additional redundancy and will substantially decrease the DNS response times from various locations to our network.
Additionally, this will present a greater surface area to any potential DOS attacks on our network should they occur, thus spreading any attack out among all DNS locations.

How does this “Stack Up” compared to other grids?

This tool will show you the various response times to a specific domain name from various locations around the world.

Compare for yourself:
http://www.maplatency.com/index.html

Simply type in your favorite grid’s login uri in the box provided, click the DNS option to the right and then click “Start Test”.

The DigiWorldz Grid uri is: login.digiworldz.com