Scaling DNS Services with BIG-IP Devices

Scaling DNS

DNS is arguably the core technology enabling the Internet. It is one of the most important components in networking infrastructure that enables users and services to access applications in the data center. If DNS goes down, most users and applications will fail to function properly.

Service delivery—and access to services by users—is dependent on DNS services for ease, dynamicity, and fault tolerance. With the move to IPv6, using IP addresses instead of names as service destinations becomes a more complicated issue. Service providers can then dynamically associate a service with a name instead of an IP address.

Creating a dynamic service delivery infrastructure based on DNS requires a tremendous amount of real-time management, stability, and room to grow. DNS scale becomes a critical issue when dealing with millions of service names and IP addresses, as is the case with large scale NAT and IPv6 deployments.

BIG-IP Global Traffic Manager (GTM) is a global DNS solution, providing name services at the very edge of the service delivery and access networks. By employing geographic location services, BIG-IP GTM can direct users to the best service delivery data center based on their physical location. Within the data center, BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM) can load balance local and recursive DNS services creating a fault-tolerant architecture from the mobile edge through to the service. BIG-IP LTM also supports service provider-specific applications such as load balancing ENUM requests for SIP transactions.

F5 BIG-IP DNS services scale for high-availability and high-volume applications while simultaneously supporting millions of user requests per second. BIG-IP DNS services work together with other BIG-IP service delivery features, such as iRules, transparent application monitoring, application modules such as BIG-IP WAN Optimization Module (WOM), and other IP-related services to create a complete service delivery infrastructure, the F5 Service Delivery Network (SDN). Seamless service-provider scale and flexibility is achieved by leveraging the intelligent service delivery platform common to all BIG-IP devices.

The F5 SDN is a unified service delivery foundation incorporating naming services across the entire service network. Although they provide different functions in the network, BIG-IP GTM and LTM work in concert to manage DNS and to guarantee service availability to all users.

BIG-IP GTM provides the following name services:

• DNS services at the edge of the network for all internal and external services.
• Geolocation services for pin-point service delivery accuracy based on location of the mobile user.
• Service provider scalability, handling millions of global name requests per second.
• Integration with other BIG-IP service delivery solutions such as BIG-IP LTM, iRules, and health monitors.
• Single point of control for management of all global and local name services.
• Support for global managed services.
• Integration with iRules for granular DNS decisions and name service delivery.

BIG-IP LTM solutions for naming services include:

• Integration with BIG-IP GTM to extend rich naming services into the local data center and services network.
• Load balancing support for both local DNS as well as with recursive DNS.
• Support for service provider-specific protocols such as ENUM requests for SIP transactions.
• Transparent health monitors to evaluate service health before sending users to the service. BIG-IP LTM can relay health information back to BIG-IP GTM to bring application awareness to the edge of the SDN.
• Integration with iRules for granular DNS decisions and name service delivery.