DENIC, the registry for .de domains, has signed a contract with the Internet Systems Consortium (ISC: www.isc.org) agreeing to substantially contribute to the development of BIND 10. BIND is the world’s best-known software for name servers – the servers that translate domain names into IP addresses. The current version of BIND, version 9, has already been in use for ten years. During that time, the Internet has moved on and there have been major changes in user expectations, software technology and computer architecture. BIND 10 will address a number of shortcomings of the existing design including security and resilience, and its modular structure will enable customization.

BIND is being developed by ISC, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to ongoing development of the Internet on the basis of self-regulation and self-organization. ISC will publish BIND in the form of open-source freeware, thus facilitating the activities of registries and registrars around the world, regardless of their size. A recent survey found that roughly 70 percent of public name servers use BIND already now, which makes it an essential component of the Internet’s infrastructure.

Cooperation of numerous organizations

Numerous organizations will help to develop the new version of BIND. Currently six ccTLD registries have signed a sponsorship contract: AFNIC, CIRA, DENIC, JPRS, Nominet and SIDN. A steering committee – with DENIC being one of the initiators – will be set up to monitor the progress and quality of the development work and to give guidance from a stakeholder perspective.

Bind10 starts from scratch. So the development process for implementing all the envisioned features could take up to five years. "Such a large project requires long-term commitment and investment. DENIC will be pleased to fund BIND10 and thus promote its success throughout the years," DENIC’s CTO, Jörg Schweiger said. "Supporting BIND10 is consistent with our strategy to strengthen the development of (open) standards serving both DENIC members as well as the Internet Community at large. We are convinced that BIND10 will mean a leap in quality towards fulfiling the demanding future requirements of a reliable DNS service."

For further information, please also refer to ISC's news on BIND10.