A study conducted by IBM and Catchpoint Systems shed light on the critical role of domain name system (DNS) performance in internet functionality and user experience, revealing a striking differences in DNS response times across providers and regions.

The study, which examined over 2,000 popular websites during peak internet traffic season, tapped 216 backbone nodes strategically positioned across major global regions. Researchers ran synthetic checks over 48 hours, with one test per minute, focusing primarily on DNS response time as the key performance metric.

Key findings were:

  • Global average DNS response time was 263 milliseconds;
  • Self-hosted DNS solutions were 35% slower than the global average;
  • Premium managed DNS services significantly outperformed self-hosted solutions;
  • Significant regional variations exist, with Europe and North America showing faster response times.
“Most businesses see authoritative DNS as something that should just work – as long as connections are active, you have a license to ignore it,” Ben Ball, lead project manager GTM at IBM, told SDxCentral. “This study turns that supposition on its head. The data show that actively measuring DNS performance and using that information to optimize DNS connections can result in significant performance gains.”

Managed DNS is faster than self-hosted One of the primary findings from the study is the significant performance gap between self-hosted DNS solutions and premium managed DNS services. Self-hosted DNS response times were found to be 35% slower than the global average, translating to a noticeable 141-millisecond lag.

“This performance gap is huge and highlights the operational inefficiencies and slower response times associated with self-hosting,” Howard Beader, VP of product marketing at Catchpoint, told SDxCentral. “This has a tangible impact on user experience and business outcomes and is important for IT and infosec professionals to note.”

The study results were a bit self-serving in that among premium DNS providers, IBM NS1 Connect stood out as the top performer, delivering response times 39% faster than the global average. Vercara UltraDNS and Cloudflare DNS followed closely, with 35% and 16% faster connections, respectively.

The study highlighted considerable regional differences in DNS performance. Europe and North America consistently demonstrated faster response times, attributed to the higher density of DNS servers in these regions. Asia, South America, and Oceania showed slower performance, partly due to greater distances between users and DNS infrastructure.

How monitoring and observability metrics improve DNS performance The report emphasizes that DNS performance is not merely a technical consideration but has tangible business implications. Slower DNS response times can lead to increased page load times, potentially impacting user satisfaction, conversion rates, and ultimately, revenue.

For instance, the study cites previous research indicating that a mere 0.1-second improvement in application response times can lead to a 10% increase in sales growth.

Beader suggests that enterprises should focus on a few key observability metrics to improve DNS performance. This includes response time, resolution accuracy, and reliability. He added that real-time monitoring is critical to help enterprises identify and address performance issues proactively.

“In particular, response time is critical as it directly affects how quickly users can access applications and websites,” Beader said. “Similarly, resolution accuracy ensures that DNS queries return the correct IP addresses, while reliability measures the consistency and uptime of DNS services.”

Outsourcing DNS is the beginning While the report showed a clear advantage to using managed DNS, there is more that can be done.

Beader emphasized that optimizing DNS involves several strategic steps beyond merely outsourcing to a managed provider.

“While leveraging a managed DNS service can enhance performance and reliability, organizations should also focus on implementing best practices in-house, such as geo-routing, load balancing, and redundancy,” Beader said. “Additionally, continuously monitoring DNS performance and making data-driven adjustments are crucial.”

Beyond just outsourcing the basic operations of DNS, Beader noted that managed DNS providers offer features like traffic steering and real-time observability, which can further optimize performance by dynamically responding to changing network conditions and user demands.

Beyond just improving overall performance, there are also other benefits that DNS optimization can bring to organizations as well.

“Optimizing DNS performance can also positively impact SEO, which is of course something most organizations look to continually improve,” Beader said.