Go Daddy Responds to “Rolling Blackout” DNS Rumor
Go DaddyGo Daddy manages the DNS for tens of millions of domain names. Our customers rely on us for efficient, uninterrupted DNS service.
It has been suggested that Go Daddy has a rolling blackout policy, where DNS is shut off after certain capacities are reached. This is a frightening notion if you have a domain name – you would never want your DNS turned off for any reason. You’ll be relieved to know Go Daddy does not have a “rolling blackout” policy.
DNS maps a domain name to a location on the Internet (an IP address). If you look up a domain name using a Web browser, your browser will need to run a DNS query to find the IP address. If you visit 100 domain names in a day, that’s around 100 DNS queries.
The rumor about “DNS Blackouts” was started by someone using Go Daddy servers to cache all Go Daddy DNS records on his personal servers for financial gain.
Back to our previous example of 100 queries a day. Instead of one person accessing 100 domain names, this individual was attempting to download tens of millions of Go Daddy DNS records – twice daily. While his behavior did not cause any system issues, we felt it best to revoke access to the offending IPs.
If Go Daddy finds unwanted activity in our network, Go Daddy takes actions to stop it.
An analogy to this situation – some gas stations offer free air for tires. This is a nice service, but if someone utilized the air to start a tire pumping business, the gas station wouldn’t allow it. That does not indicate the air pump has limited capacity. In fact, it’s a compliment to the quality of the air pump if someone wants to make a business around it.
The fact of the matter is this: Go Daddy aggressively protects its network. We do it because Go Daddy is responsible for a significant portion of the Internet. Ultimately, Go Daddy is committed to providing the best possible service for our customers.
Dave Koopman
Chief Technology Officer & Senior Vice President of Product Development
Go Daddy
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One Comment on "Go Daddy Responds to “Rolling Blackout” DNS Rumor"
The fact this person was slamming the servers is enough for me to cut him off! I don’t need his unnecessary requests slowing down requests for my DNS domain. It could easily become a botnet attempt to bring down your DNS services altogether.
Thank you for being there to police this activity!