Unbound (DNS Server)
Encyclopedia
Unbound is a validating, recursive, and caching DNS
server
software product from NLnet Labs, VeriSign
Inc., Nominet
, and Kirei. It is distributed free of charge in open source
form under the BSD license.
Originally designed by Jakob Schlyter of Kirei and Roy Arends of Nominet
in 2004, funding was provided by VeriSign and ep.net to develop a prototype written in Java (David Blacka and Matt Larson, VeriSign). Starting in 2006 the prototype was re-written for high-performance in the C programming language
by NLnet Labs.
Unbound is designed as a set of modular components that incorporate modern features, such as enhanced security (DNSSEC
) validation, Internet Protocol Version 6 (IPv6
), and a client resolver library API
as an integral part of the architecture. Originally written for Posix
-compatible Unix-like
operating system, it runs on FreeBSD
, OpenBSD
, NetBSD
, and Linux
, as well as Microsoft Windows
.
Domain name system
The Domain Name System is a hierarchical distributed naming system for computers, services, or any resource connected to the Internet or a private network. It associates various information with domain names assigned to each of the participating entities...
server
Server (computing)
In the context of client-server architecture, a server is a computer program running to serve the requests of other programs, the "clients". Thus, the "server" performs some computational task on behalf of "clients"...
software product from NLnet Labs, VeriSign
VeriSign
Verisign, Inc. is an American company based in Dulles, Virginia that operates a diverse array of network infrastructure, including two of the Internet's thirteen root nameservers, the authoritative registry for the .com, .net, and .name generic top-level domains and the .cc and .tv country-code...
Inc., Nominet
Nominet UK
Nominet UK is the .uk domain name registry in the United Kingdom, which was founded by Dr Willie Black and five others on 14 May 1996 when its predecessor, the 'Naming Committee' was unable to deal with the volume of registrations then being sought under the .uk domain. Nominet is a non-profit...
, and Kirei. It is distributed free of charge in open source
Open source
The term open source describes practices in production and development that promote access to the end product's source materials. Some consider open source a philosophy, others consider it a pragmatic methodology...
form under the BSD license.
Originally designed by Jakob Schlyter of Kirei and Roy Arends of Nominet
Nominet UK
Nominet UK is the .uk domain name registry in the United Kingdom, which was founded by Dr Willie Black and five others on 14 May 1996 when its predecessor, the 'Naming Committee' was unable to deal with the volume of registrations then being sought under the .uk domain. Nominet is a non-profit...
in 2004, funding was provided by VeriSign and ep.net to develop a prototype written in Java (David Blacka and Matt Larson, VeriSign). Starting in 2006 the prototype was re-written for high-performance in the C programming language
C (programming language)
C is a general-purpose computer programming language developed between 1969 and 1973 by Dennis Ritchie at the Bell Telephone Laboratories for use with the Unix operating system....
by NLnet Labs.
Unbound is designed as a set of modular components that incorporate modern features, such as enhanced security (DNSSEC
DNSSEC
The Domain Name System Security Extensions is a suite of Internet Engineering Task Force specifications for securing certain kinds of information provided by the Domain Name System as used on Internet Protocol networks...
) validation, Internet Protocol Version 6 (IPv6
IPv6
Internet Protocol version 6 is a version of the Internet Protocol . It is designed to succeed the Internet Protocol version 4...
), and a client resolver library API
Application programming interface
An application programming interface is a source code based specification intended to be used as an interface by software components to communicate with each other...
as an integral part of the architecture. Originally written for Posix
POSIX
POSIX , an acronym for "Portable Operating System Interface", is a family of standards specified by the IEEE for maintaining compatibility between operating systems...
-compatible Unix-like
Unix-like
A Unix-like operating system is one that behaves in a manner similar to a Unix system, while not necessarily conforming to or being certified to any version of the Single UNIX Specification....
operating system, it runs on FreeBSD
FreeBSD
FreeBSD is a free Unix-like operating system descended from AT&T UNIX via BSD UNIX. Although for legal reasons FreeBSD cannot be called “UNIX”, as the direct descendant of BSD UNIX , FreeBSD’s internals and system APIs are UNIX-compliant...
, OpenBSD
OpenBSD
OpenBSD is a Unix-like computer operating system descended from Berkeley Software Distribution , a Unix derivative developed at the University of California, Berkeley. It was forked from NetBSD by project leader Theo de Raadt in late 1995...
, NetBSD
NetBSD
NetBSD is a freely available open source version of the Berkeley Software Distribution Unix operating system. It was the second open source BSD descendant to be formally released, after 386BSD, and continues to be actively developed. The NetBSD project is primarily focused on high quality design,...
, and Linux
Linux
Linux is a Unix-like computer operating system assembled under the model of free and open source software development and distribution. The defining component of any Linux system is the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released October 5, 1991 by Linus Torvalds...
, as well as Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
.