First DNS L-root instance in Bolivia will improve Internet reliability for regional Internet users
MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay – 4 October 2016 – On 9 September 2016, the first L-Root instance in Bolivia was successfully installed in Cochabamba, enhancing the stability, security and resiliency of the Internet for users throughout Latin America.
"We are incredibly excited to announce the implementation of this new L-Root instance in Cochabamba," said Rodrigo de la Parra, ICANN's Vice President for Latin America and the Caribbean. "This new L-Root instance will reduce response time to DNS queries in Bolivia, and at the same time offer greater resiliency, stability, and security, all of which strengthen the global Domain Name System (DNS)."
The launch of the L-Root instance is a joint effort of ICANN, the Latin American and Caribbean Internet Addresses Registry (LACNIC) and the Telecommunications Cooperative of Cochabamba (COMTECO), an Internet service provider (ISP) in Bolivia.
"It is worth nothing that COMTECO is the ISP with more Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) traffic in Bolivia, which is really positive," said Carlos Martinez, LACNIC's Chief Technology Officer. "This L-Root instance, which has been operational since 9 September, will help mitigate certain network outages and improve response times for the rapidly growing Internet community in Bolivia and the Latin American and Caribbean region as a whole."
This effort helps demonstrate the continued cooperation between ICANN and LACNIC and their commitment to the development of the Internet in the region.
There are 13 "root" DNS servers, identified by alphabetic letters A through M, one being the "L" root server operated by ICANN. Computers typically communicate with each other using numeric addresses, while humans find it easier to use and remember names (for instance, users typically remember the domain name "icann.org" more easily than the IP address 2620:0:2d0:200::7).The DNS translates names into addresses and the root servers, such as the one installed in Cochabamba, provide the pointers to the servers for top-level domains (the last part of domain names, such as the "org" in "icann.org"). Spreading access to this root information geographically – by duplicating the root servers in various locations – leads to a resilient, dispersed system. It reduces the risk of end users being unable to look up names due to a problem or attack, and reduces the time it takes to connect to sites on the Internet.
For more information about L-Root, please visit www.dns.icann.org/.
Media Contacts
Alexandra Dans
Sr. Communications Manager, Latin America and the Caribbean ICANN
Montevideo, Uruguay
Telephone: +598 95 831 442
Email: alexandra.dans@icann.org
Carolina Badano
Web Content and Social Media Editor
LACNIC
Montevideo, Uruguay
Telephone: + 598 99 178 735
Email: cbadano@lacnic.net
About ICANN
ICANN's mission is to help ensure a stable, secure and unified global Internet. To reach another person on the Internet, you have to type an address into your computer or other device – a name or a number. That address has to be unique so computers know where to find each other. ICANN helps coordinate and support these unique identifiers across the world. ICANN was formed in 1998 as a not-for-profit public-benefit corporation and a community with participants from all over the world. For more information, please visit: www.icann.org.
About LACNIC
LACNIC, the Latin American and Caribbean Internet Addresses Registry, is an international non-government organization established in Uruguay in 2002. It is responsible for assigning and administrating Internet numbering resources (IPv4, IPv6), Autonomous System Numbers, Reverse Resolution and other resources for the region of Latin America and the Caribbean. It is one of the five Regional Internet Registries that exist worldwide.
LACNIC contributes to Internet development in the region through an active cooperation policy, promoting and defending the regional community's interests and helping create conditions that will allow the Internet to become an effective instrument for social inclusion and economic development for the benefit of all Latin American and Caribbean countries and citizens.
It is managed and run by a Board of seven directors elected by LACNIC members –more than 4,500 network operators providing services in 33 Latin American and Caribbean territories. For more information, please visit: www.lacnic.net.