Neustar releases UltraDNS2 to provide greater redundancy and higher availability of DNS resolution services

Neustar Security Services, a provider of cloud-oriented security services that enable global businesses to thrive online, is introducing UltraDNS2, a dual set of DNS resolution global anycast networks that work seamlessly together to provide even greater redundancy and higher availability of DNS resolution services.

The new offering may be purchased only as a bundle, so the second network, UltraDNS2, is exclusively available to customers of UltraDNS. UltraDNS2 provides two networks that offer the same features, but which have separate network operations, provisioning, automation, peering, and routing policies.

DNS resolution services

By adding an independent, highly redundant second network alongside the existing UltraDNS platform, UltraDNS2 allows organisations to significantly reduce risk of operational and resolution failure and to achieve their business continuity and disaster recovery goals for DNS resolution services.

UltraDNS2 allows organisations to significantly reduce risk of operational and resolution failure

At the same time, having two independent networks backed by one vendor enables single pane of glass management of DNS infrastructure and reduces the total cost of ownership by eliminating the cost and complexity of managing a separate second provider. This eliminates the need for companies to develop and maintain their own methodologies for managing DNS across two providers, simplifies contracting and reduces mean time to repair by streamlining troubleshooting to a single provider.

Possible management systems

“The 2016 Mirai botnet DDoS attack against a well-known managed DNS provider was a wake-up call for many organisations, as it became clear that no one is immune to DDoS threats, even with the best possible management systems and security measures in place,” said Carlos Morales, senior vice president of solutions at Neustar Security Services.

“For this reason, industry analysts and security experts recommend that organisations protect their operations and their brands by implementing a second DNS network to ensure the uptime and resilience of their infrastructure and services.” As cyberattacks against DNS services grow in number and sophistication, the cost of inadequate protection of online assets is rising as well.

Web-based technology

Organisations that engage in e-commerce are particularly vulnerable to a range of DNS-related threats

Organisations that engage in e-commerce are particularly vulnerable to a range of DNS-related threats, including hijacked DNS requests that redirect users to fraudulent pages (leading to lost sales and damage to the brand image), and DDoS attacks that lock out customers (at a cost of $3,500-$220,000 per minute in lost sales) and may involve paying a ransom fee.

But it is not only e-commerce companies that are affected; the cost of downtime is rising steadily for all enterprises as businesses of all kinds become increasingly reliant on web-based technology.

According to an independent survey by ITIC in 2021, the cost of an hour of mission-critical server downtime — in lost business, reduced productivity and remediation efforts — averaged more than $300,000 for 91 percent of organisations and exceeded $1 million for 44 percent of organisations.

Multiple control interfaces

UltraDNS2 lowers operating cost to customers by driving the DNS content delivered by both networks

UltraDNS2 was developed to meet the need for independence and isolation at the DNS resolution edge where it is most valuable, but without the added effort of managing multiple control interfaces and often incompatible advanced features. UltraDNS2 lowers operating cost to customers by driving the DNS content delivered by both networks from a single control plane, API and portal.

UltraDNS2 product features, billing and reporting are identical to those of UltraDNS, and all the advanced features of UltraDNS work seamlessly across both networks. UltraDNS2 is protected from DDoS attacks by UltraDDoS Protect, one of the world’s largest dedicated data scrubbing networks, offering 12+ terabits per second of DDoS mitigation.

Neustar Security Services has made significant investments in the company’s network infrastructure in preparation for the launch of UltraDNS2, which supports an additional 18 nodes globally. These points of presence have been chosen with geographic and internet topology diversity at the forefront of location selection.