BIND stands for "Berkeley Internet Name Domain" and refers to an open-source DNS server originally developed at the University of California, Berkeley (UCB). Development began in the early 1980s, with the initial version released publicly in 1988. Initially implemented on BSD-based UNIX systems, BIND remains widely adopted and actively utilized by DNS servers around the globe.
Originally funded by DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency), BIND's ongoing development was later continued by Paul Vixie in the mid-1980s while employed at Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC). After leaving DEC, Vixie co-founded the Internet Software Consortium (ISC) to support internet-related software, including BIND. ISC evolved into the Internet Systems Consortium in 2004, the organization which currently maintains development and provides support for BIND.
As of January 2016, the latest version of BIND was "9.10.3-P3," with the stable version being "9.9.8-P3."
Additionally, BIG-IP DNS offered by F5 can be deployed as a fully functional DNS proxy, providing global load balancing and DNS resolution capabilities across diverse infrastructures.