Quote:
Originally posted by srawls
Also, I seem to recall some discussion on the physical security at various root DNS servers, and what would happen if terrorist, say, attacked them (by bombs and such, nothing as fancy as an internet virus, or a DDOS attack). Basically, the WHOLE internet may not go down, but a large portion would, or there would be a significant slowdown, and only a limited number of people would have access.
Stephen
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Probably not. In fact, as little as 12% of DNS queries actually make it all the way to the root servers, since any decent ISP will run their own.
Also, the internet has SO much redundancy that you would literally have to take down EVERY major backbone to cripple it. For example, you are required to have two DNS servers registered to a domain, even though one is plenty for most simple websites. Likewise, routers use routing protocols (OSPF, BGP, etc), to find multiple paths to any destination on the internet. Depending on which routing protocol is used, the router can switch over in as little as a few seconds. Add in things like HSRP (proprietary to Cisco, but still VERY cool), and you can get switchover times that are virtually zero.
Basically, the entire internet is designed with redundancy, backups, and backups to the redundancy. Short of siumultaneously destroying ATT, MCI, Sprint, Bell, etc, I really can't imagine any way of knocking out the whole thing.