Timeline for Phasing Out the Old TTM-based DNSMON

Introduction

As announced previously , a new version of DNSMON , based on RIPE Atlas measurements, became available for public testing in March 2014. The  new DNSMON is already acting as a good replacement for the old service. However, we have more improvements planned and are still inviting community feedback about the new service.

The old DNSMON is dependent upon measurements that are run as part of the TTM service. The TTM service consists of the TTM systems, hosted by approximately 50 organisations, and the back-end infrastructure run by the RIPE NCC. The back-end infrastructure is performing data collection, storage and visualisation. The TTM service is in the last phase of its existence, with RIPE Atlas replacing most of TTM’s functionality.

We plan to run the old and new DNSMON implementations in parallel for a limited time, so that current users of DNSMON can arrange for their tools and processes to function in line with the new DNSMON.

We are currently investigating options so that we can keep (historic) raw data from the old DNSMON measurements available indefinitely, for interested parties.

DNSMON Transition: Details and Implications

• Old and new DNSMON will be available in parallel until end of June 2014.
  • Configuration updates for existing zones will only be applied to the new DNSMON.
  • Data collection in the old DNSMON service will be terminated by 1 July 2014.
  • Data visualisation of (historic) measurement data provided by the old DNSMON will be available until the end of 2014.
  • Raw data from the old DNSMON measurements will be kept available for a longer period. We are investigating ways to keep the old data available indefinitely.
• The above planning allows a period of several months for current DNSMON users to migrate their tools to the new DNSMON. However, this is not without costs:
• Maintaining the old DNSMON and TTM backends during this period will require some allocation of resources, namely RIPE NCC staff.
• Data collection in the old DNSMON is also dependent on the current TTM hosts supporting the TTM systems in their networks until the end of June.
• The TTM systems performing the old DNSMON measurements have passed their technical and economically expected life spans. Also, individual hosts may decide to remove their TTM systems. Therefore, it should be noted that the quality of service of the old DNSMON might degrade during the transition period.

We invite your feedback about this planning before Tuesday, 15 April. Please provide feedback to the DNS Working Group Mailing List ( dns-wg@ripe.net ) or to romeo.zwart@ripe.net directly. After the deadline has passed, the responses received will be summarised to the DNS Working Group Mailing List, along with a decision based on the feedback received.

New Users and Zones

We have been asked to add additional zones to the new DNSMON service. At the moment, we are not adding any new users or new zones to DNSMON. In the next phase of the project, we will engage the community in a discussion about the process and criteria for adding new zones to the measurements.