Usage Statistics for the Root Server ASLAN.OPEN-RSC.ORG
For the month of November 2003



ASLAN is owned by and operated as a public service to the internet community  by
AGN Domain Name Services, Inc.
http://www.adns.net

SUMMARY: THERE WERE 3,748,225 DNS queries received by ASLAN during November 2003.

ASLAN is part of the Open Root Server Consortium, a group of individuals and organizations who are all interested in an open, fair and technically sound global Domain Name System for the internet. AGN Domain Name Services owns and is the registrar for the top level domains .EARTH, .USA and .Z . Internet users wishing to register a domains ending in ".EARTH", ".USA" or ".Z" can do so at http://www.adns.net. Although not visible to a big part of the internet, ADNS is engaged in a worldwide advertising campaign to educate users how to access these domains as well as other new top-level domains. As part of our commitment to the opening up of the internet namespace, ADNS is working with ORSC by providing ASLAN.OPEN-RSC.ORG to the internet community free of charge. Each month, ADNS will publish usage statistics for ASLAN in order to allow the internet community to see the usage trends of this alternative root server network. Below are the usage statistics for November 2003

Usage Statistics for ASLAN.OPEN-RSC.ORG for the month of November 2003

Statistic Current Month Last Month % Change
Total number of DNS Queries Received: 3,748,225 7,885,123 -52.46 %
Days in Sample Month: 30 31 -
Average number of DNS Queries Received Per Day: 124,941 254,359 -50.88 %
       
Number of 0 Queries: 1 N/A
Number of 1 Queries: 2,711,760 N/A
Number of 2 Queries: 35,459 N/A
Number of 5 Queries: 10,087 N/A
Number of 6 Queries: 178,678 N/A
Number of 12 Queries: 357,439 N/A
Number of 13 Queries: 1 N/A
Number of 15 Queries: 191,186 N/A
Number of 16 Queries: 29,204 N/A
Number of 28 Queries: 103,030 N/A
Number of 29 Queries: 57 N/A
Number of 32 Queries: 1 N/A
Number of 33 Queries: 83,800 N/A
Number of 38 Queries: 6,298 N/A
Number of 251 Queries: 22 N/A
Number of 252 Queries: 7 N/A
Number of 253 Queries: 1 N/A
Number of 255 Queries: 41,194 N/A

MORE INFORMATION ON DOMAINS 

The end portion of any internet domain, the part after the last dot is called the top-level domain. Top-level domains that are generally available to the public for websites and other purposes are called generic top-level domains (gTLDs). Visibility of gTLDs is controlled by one of two things: ROOT name servers, which contain lists of gTLDs which are referenced by other name servers and "resolver" name servers which reference the root servers when they need information about a gTLD. If a certain gTLD is listed in a root name server, then every resolver which uses that root server as a reference for gTLDs will know about it and so will the end users who use such a resolver.

The most widely used name servers are those controlled by the INTERNET CORPORATION FOR NUMBERS AND NAMES (ICANN). They all use the same list of gTLDs. Until recently, there were only a few choices for gTLDs: .COM, .NET, .ORG, .EDU. .GOV and .MIL along with a gTLD for each nation on earth (a two letter code coreseponding to the ISO code for that nation). .EDU, .GOV and .MIL are restricted and are not readily available to the general public.

The problem is that many of the "best names" are already taken in the public gTLDs. 

ENTER eDNS: In March of 1997, an organization was formed called eDNS (extended DNS). This organization of internet service providers and others had the goal to create an alternative set of root name servers. eDNS did not burden prospective registrars with unreasonable financial requirements. By being more open, eDNS allowed many registrars to enter the market at the same time. eDNS  also respect the idea that gTLDs could be owned by individual registrars. This may seem to be monopolistic, but eDNS did not restrict  the number of gTLDs (as ICANN proposes today). In effect, although there can be exclusive ownership of gTLDs, there can be many more of them under the eDNS plan. ADNS was a part of the eDNS group. Unfortunatly, eDNS lost support due to a number of factors and no longer operates. ADNS is now a member of the Open Root Server Consortium (ORSC) which has similar goals.

CLASHES?: Many people may wonder what differences would be seen when one used the ICANN root servers versus the ORSC servers. The answer is: users of the ORSC servers would have more choices because many of the gTLDs supported by ORSC are NOT supported by ICANN. Another issue is the visibility of ICANN gTLDs (such as .COM, .NET, etc) for users of ORSC. It is ORSC policy to support ALL of the non- conflicting ICANN gTLDs (such as .COM, .NET, etc) in the ORSC root servers. This means that the ORSC root servers will contain a SUPERSET of the gTLD's in the ICANN root servers. All of the ICANN gTLDs will be accessible to users of ORSC. There is one problem which may occur in the future and that is the problem of conflicting use of a gTLD. What if ICANN and ORSC both decide to create a certain gTLD? the ICANN servers will have one version of this gTLD which the ORSC servers will have another. It is the ORSC policy NOT to allow the creation of a conflicting gTLD in its root server AS LONG AS THE ICANN VERSION OF THE DOMAIN WAS CREATED FIRST!

SO WHAT YOU'RE SAYING IS THAT I WILL STILL BE ABLE TO ACCESS ALL OF MY OLD SITES AS WELL AS MANY NEW SITES?

Yes, this is correct. ORSC will offer you access to many more sites than the ICANN root servers. The best thing about ORSC is that it WILL NOT COST USERS OR ISP'S ANYTHING TO USE ORSC SERVERS! Instructions on how to begin using ORSC are available at http://www.Open-RSC.ORG. There are instructions for both end users and ISPs. There is also a list of gTLDs supported by ORSC on the ORSC server. (For those of you wanting to configure your Windows 95/98/NT machine, simply right-click on NETWORK NEIGHBORHOOD and select PROPERTIES, then put 199.5.157.128 as your DNS Server under TCP/IP Settings)

WEB PUBLISHERS ISSUES: Most of this document, so far, has addressed end users and ISP's. There is another aspect - that of people who want to do business on the internet. You can view the internet as one big publication with millions of users (anywhere from 30 to 100 million) as an audience. Any businesses that have advertised in publications will know that one of the things that you should ask to see is an AUDIT OF CIRCULATION. This audit report, done by a firm which specializes in such things, tells prospective advertisers how many people receive the publication. This is important information which tells a business how many people will see an ad placed in the publication.

Web site owners can use the usage statistics published here on a monthly basis in a similar way to guage the level of acceptance by the internet community of ORSC root servers.

Why should I, as  web publisher / eCommerce site operator, register a domain under .EARTH, .USA or. Z? Won't I loose a lot of visibility by having a domain name that is currently visible to only a part of the internet?

Although these new gTLDs are only visible to a small portion of the internet now, ADNS will be expending considerable resources to make them visible to more and more people. You do not need to give up your .COM address either. Web sites can have more than one host name. You can keep your .COM address while adding a new name for your website. Also, consider what has happened with the current gTLDS: All of the good names were snapped up and now command a large amount of money on the market. Some companies have been approached by domain speculators requesting a large amount of money just for returning the name to the rightful trademark owner. By registering your .EARTH, .USA or .Z domain, you are protecting it from speculators. WARNING: Although all of the good names are NOT CURRENTLY TAKEN, that can change.

Why Should I, as an Internet Surfer Configure My Machine to use ORSC Name Servers?

Because more and more sites will be creating websites with names under alternative gTLDs (such as EARTH, USA and Z). Very soon, you will be seeing these appear in advertisments on billboards, radio and TV. If your machine still points to name servers that cannot see these new addresses, you will not be able to see them either. It is free and takes only 30 seconds to re-point your machine to a set of servers which give you ALL of the name choices on the internet.

Test out your Machine: If you click on This link: http://The.Earth and your browser gives you an error, neither your machine nor your ISP is configured to use ORSC Servers. if you have trouble configuring your machine to use ORSC Servers, send us e-mail at info@ADNS.NET