Root Server Anycast Copy Deployed at Tanzania Internet Exchange

AfriNIC launched its Root Server Anycast Copy Program in Cairo, Egypt, October 2008, with the objective of increasing the number of instances of Anycast copies of root servers in the African region in order to improve the local Internet infrastructure scalability and reliability. Three fundamental reasons have encouraged the distribution of the root servers at many locations around the world.

1. Better load management on root servers;
2. Resilience to DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service) attacks; and,
3. Lower RTT (Round Trip {delay} Time) between clients and servers.

When a region or a country loses its international connectivity, access to root servers is preserved by virtue of the local node. This enables the local traffic developed through IXPs and transit points to proceed. In another term, this will allow the local Internet to continue to be able to resolve names and access to local services.

Today, we are pleased to inform you that the first deployment under our program was completed on Wednesday, August 19, 2009 in Dar-es-Salaam at the Tanzania Internet Exchange (TIX), where a copy of the K root server operated by RIPE NCC is installed and running. " This is another exciting step we are taking to improve Internet service in Tanzania. We want to thank AfriNIC and RIPE NCC for their support in this project " stated Frank Habicht, TIX Manager.

"This deployment is very critical as it helps to address the issue of "Access" in Tanzania and it is an important milestone towards our objective to contribute more to the Internet infrastructure development in our region. We are looking forward to more deployments of this kind in the coming months" stated Adiel Akplogan, CEO, AfriNIC.

We congratulate TIX for its participation in the AfriNIC Root Server Anycast Copy Program and wish them a great success! Furthermore, we would like to extend special thanks to RIPE NCC who actually carried out the deployment, Tanzania Internet Service Providers Association (TISPA) for local support, SimbaNET and Africa Online for the transit provided, and the AfriNIC Project Team.

Additional information about AfriNIC`s Root Server Anycast Copy Program can be found at: http://www.afrinic.net/projects/project_anycast.htm

AfriNIC, the Regional Internet Registry for Africa, is a non-government, not-for-profit, membership based organization, headquartered in Mauritius, and is responsible for the management and distribution of Internet Number Resources throughout the African continent.

www.afrinic.net.