The IPv6 DNS Names Dataset

DNS names are useful for obtaining additional information about routers and hosts making up the Internet topology. For example, DNS names of routers often encode the link type (backbone vs. access), link capacity, Point of Presence (PoP), and geographic location. We have IPv6 DNS Names data starting June 2014.

These datasets result from CAIDA's large-scale traceroute-based measurements running on the Archipelago (Ark) measurement infrastructure (also see CAIDA's Macroscopic Topology Project).

We perform these DNS lookups centrally at CAIDA using a custom-built bulk DNS lookup service. This service performs millions of DNS lookups per day. In general, we perform DNS lookups soon after we collect the topology traces so that the results better match the state of the Internet at trace collection time. However, to avoid undue load on remote DNS nameservers and to keep the daily lookup volume at a manageable level, we never perform a lookup for an address if we have successfully obtained a result in the preceding 36 hours. Apart from this 36-hour rule, we always perform a lookup whenever we encounter an IP address in traces. This means that we do repeat lookups at 36-hour granularity for addresses that repeatedly occur in the traces.

Data availability

These data are available as a public dataset.

Acceptable Use Agreement

Please read the terms of the CAIDA Acceptable Use Agreement (AUA) for Publicy Accessible Datasets below:

When referencing this data (as required by the AUA), please use:

The CAIDA UCSD IPv6 DNS Names Dataset - <dates used>,
https://www.caida.org/catalog/datasets/ipv6_dnsnames_dataset/

Request Data Access

• Access the publicly available CAIDA IPv6 DNS Names (and other topology data)

Topology Datasets

• Freely Available Datasets
  • The Ark IPv4 Routed /24 Topology Dataset (data older than one year only)
  • The Ark IPv4 Routed /24 DNS Names Dataset (data older than one year only)
  • IPv4 TNT MPLS Topology Dataset (data older than one year only)
  • Ark Internet Topology Data Kits (ITDK) (data older than one year only)
  • The Ark IPv6 Topology Dataset
  • The Ark IPv6 DNS Names Dataset
  • The IPv6 Routed /48 Topology Dataset
  • IPv4 Routed /24 AS Links (September 2007 - ongoing)
  • IPv6 AS Links (December 2008 - ongoing)
  • AS Rank
  • AS Relationships
  • Skitter Macroscopic Topology Data
  • Skitter Internet Topology Data Kits (ITDK) - April 2002 and April/May 2003
  • Skitter AS Links (January 2000 - February 2008)
  • Skitter Router Adjacencies
  • AS Taxonomy
  • PAM 2010 "Improving AS Annotations" Supplement
• Restricted Access Datasets
  • The Ark IPv4 Routed /24 Topology Dataset (incl. most recent one year)
  • The Ark IPv4 Routed /24 DNS Names Dataset (incl. most recent one year)
  • IPv4 TNT MPLS Topology Dataset (incl. most recent one year)
  • The Ark IPv4 Prefix-Probing Dataset (incl. most recent one year)
  • Ark Internet Topology Data Kits (ITDK) (incl. most recent one year)
  • Complete Routed-Space DNS Lookups

References

For more information on CAIDA topology measurements, see:

• Internet Topology Data Comparison
• The Archipelago Project (Ark)
• Macroscopic Topology Measurements

For more information on topology measurements in general see:

• University of Oregon Route Views Project
• Paris traceroute