Tweet
Check it out! Very cool way to still access your favorite sites (Like Itulip) in the event of a DNS (Domain Name Server) Failure. (For what ever reason that may occur).
http://dnsdown.com/doit.htm
"
Welcome to DNS Down
In 1969, when Bolt, Beranek and Newman, got the first IP packetizing and routing programs working on old minicomputers, the ARPANet as we called it back then was born. It was designed to bypass cities that had been hit by a nuclear weapon! In other words, the Internet as we know it today, was originally a Pentagon project for designing a communications system that could automatically route data around destroyed cities. Back then, all we had were 'circuit switched' networks, when you made a phone call, you owned the 'copper' from one end to the other, for the duration of the call. It doesn't work that way anymore, everything is digital, everything is packetized data, and everything, phone, cell phone, radio, and some TV, depends on the internet, there is NO WAY for any entity, government or otherwise, to TAKE DOWN THE INTERNET without taking down everything!. Oh, they can take down pieces and parts, but not the whole thing. Its like a spiderweb that covers the planet. They would then lose the utility of it for themselves, so, is that even realistic? No, much easier to just 'block' those sites that are politically 'unnecessary' or have 'hate' speech on them, or, pick your reason. There is only one convenient way, and that's the DNS system, the Internet's Phone Book.
The Internet, in the old days, did not have a mechanism for 'discovery'. Today, you can type the name of a web site into your browser, or click on a link, and it just goes there, your computer 'discovers' the destination for the connection. In the old days it didn't work like this. We had to program in what is known as the IP Address of the computer we wanted to 'talk' to, it was extremely cumbersome, thus the DNS system was born. (We didn't have a WWW either, just file transfer and primitive email.) Connections from your computer to websites or emails, are made to the other computers IP Address, IP stands for Internet Protocol, think of this as the Internet Phone number. You must know this number in order to connect to it, so, how do you 'discover' that IP? In order for this new system to work transparently, they invented something called the DNS system, the Domain Name System. All web sites, must be registered in a DNS server, somewhere. All DNS servers are tied to 'root' servers, these root servers are few, and vulnerable. This, DNS network, became, the Internet Phone Book. It really is that simple.
When you type a website name into your browser, your browser, asks the DNS system "what's the number for this name?", your local DNS server defers to the root servers, and it may bounce around the world searching, but eventually, it comes back and provides the browser with the IP address of the website. Then, the browser connects to the web server, and there you are, the web page you asked for. Simple, fast, transparent. Some people, will tell you that you can find out the IP address of a web site, and just plug that into the browser, and it will bypass the DNS system, and they are right, to a point. In the last few years, IP addresses started become short, so system software engineers, figured out a way to share IP addresses on one server, and run multiple web sites on one computer, this is known as "virtual" servers. Plugging in the IP for these type servers, (like the one you're reading now), will not work, since there are multiple web sites running on that IP address. This is overcome in new browsers, that send the connection request with a Header, the header contains the name of the site, and the web server figures out which virtual server to connect you to. So why is any of this important?
If the UN, or a terrorist, or just plain old system failure, of the DNS server that you depend on, goes down, or a site is blocked, it will be done through the DNS system. It would be an almost impossible task to take down all sites by IP address, if they block one IP, it will take down everything on that server, and its not necessary when all they have to do, is change a few servers, the previously mentioned Root Servers. The Internet Phone Book will simply be shorted out. Taking out all but the sites they want to run. Simple, instant, effective. The Net, as far as most people are concerned, would be down, except for the 'approved' sites. How many of your favorite sites, do you think, would be left alive under an 'emergency information lockdown'?
DNSDown, was specifically designed to install an internet bypass. It builds a mini phone book, a DNS cache server, in your machine, based on our publicized 'Well Known Links' plus your own bookmarks...taking advantage of the 'Old Way'... This software, is being offered for free to the community, it is new, it is still undergoing testing, ..we can't unblock IP blocks, but we can fight the fight against free speech. We don't think this can be the only tool in the box. This is only the beginning, if this idea takes off, we hope to help build an UnderNet. This would be an alternate set of privately controlled DNS servers, setup outside of the current 'chain of command'... The first step, is a way to build our own private internet phone books...the next steps should be; alternate registrar software and alternate root server setup, we cannot predict when we can get this done, since we have to make a living somehow. Hopefully, we will gain some motivated assistance...we are even looking at ties to Freenet, and Tor networks. (so called anonymizer networks)
On the home page of this site, you notice the Well Known links, which have an IP based clickable link, as well as the IP address / Real or Virt. The real addresses are directly clickable, the Virt addresses MAY be virtual, and may only be accessible by downloading the file and following the directions to install it. The way this status is determined is not reliable as it depends on a reverse look up, not all hosts maintain proper reverse lookups, as it is not required. (Reverse lookup is simply the reverse of a name lookup...'give me the name from this number'. ) The only reliable way to use the well known links, is through the downloadable file. They are there for reference, and provide a point of sharing for everybody. Stay tuned for future developments"
http://dnsdown.com/doit.htm
"
Welcome to DNS Down
Some History & Etcetera
Most people don't know how The Net works, they just click on links or use their email, with no regard as to how it works, and that is as it should be, most folks don't know how a car works, but they can still drive one. In 1969, when Bolt, Beranek and Newman, got the first IP packetizing and routing programs working on old minicomputers, the ARPANet as we called it back then was born. It was designed to bypass cities that had been hit by a nuclear weapon! In other words, the Internet as we know it today, was originally a Pentagon project for designing a communications system that could automatically route data around destroyed cities. Back then, all we had were 'circuit switched' networks, when you made a phone call, you owned the 'copper' from one end to the other, for the duration of the call. It doesn't work that way anymore, everything is digital, everything is packetized data, and everything, phone, cell phone, radio, and some TV, depends on the internet, there is NO WAY for any entity, government or otherwise, to TAKE DOWN THE INTERNET without taking down everything!. Oh, they can take down pieces and parts, but not the whole thing. Its like a spiderweb that covers the planet. They would then lose the utility of it for themselves, so, is that even realistic? No, much easier to just 'block' those sites that are politically 'unnecessary' or have 'hate' speech on them, or, pick your reason. There is only one convenient way, and that's the DNS system, the Internet's Phone Book.
The Internet, in the old days, did not have a mechanism for 'discovery'. Today, you can type the name of a web site into your browser, or click on a link, and it just goes there, your computer 'discovers' the destination for the connection. In the old days it didn't work like this. We had to program in what is known as the IP Address of the computer we wanted to 'talk' to, it was extremely cumbersome, thus the DNS system was born. (We didn't have a WWW either, just file transfer and primitive email.) Connections from your computer to websites or emails, are made to the other computers IP Address, IP stands for Internet Protocol, think of this as the Internet Phone number. You must know this number in order to connect to it, so, how do you 'discover' that IP? In order for this new system to work transparently, they invented something called the DNS system, the Domain Name System. All web sites, must be registered in a DNS server, somewhere. All DNS servers are tied to 'root' servers, these root servers are few, and vulnerable. This, DNS network, became, the Internet Phone Book. It really is that simple.
When you type a website name into your browser, your browser, asks the DNS system "what's the number for this name?", your local DNS server defers to the root servers, and it may bounce around the world searching, but eventually, it comes back and provides the browser with the IP address of the website. Then, the browser connects to the web server, and there you are, the web page you asked for. Simple, fast, transparent. Some people, will tell you that you can find out the IP address of a web site, and just plug that into the browser, and it will bypass the DNS system, and they are right, to a point. In the last few years, IP addresses started become short, so system software engineers, figured out a way to share IP addresses on one server, and run multiple web sites on one computer, this is known as "virtual" servers. Plugging in the IP for these type servers, (like the one you're reading now), will not work, since there are multiple web sites running on that IP address. This is overcome in new browsers, that send the connection request with a Header, the header contains the name of the site, and the web server figures out which virtual server to connect you to. So why is any of this important?
If the UN, or a terrorist, or just plain old system failure, of the DNS server that you depend on, goes down, or a site is blocked, it will be done through the DNS system. It would be an almost impossible task to take down all sites by IP address, if they block one IP, it will take down everything on that server, and its not necessary when all they have to do, is change a few servers, the previously mentioned Root Servers. The Internet Phone Book will simply be shorted out. Taking out all but the sites they want to run. Simple, instant, effective. The Net, as far as most people are concerned, would be down, except for the 'approved' sites. How many of your favorite sites, do you think, would be left alive under an 'emergency information lockdown'?
DNSDown, was specifically designed to install an internet bypass. It builds a mini phone book, a DNS cache server, in your machine, based on our publicized 'Well Known Links' plus your own bookmarks...taking advantage of the 'Old Way'... This software, is being offered for free to the community, it is new, it is still undergoing testing, ..we can't unblock IP blocks, but we can fight the fight against free speech. We don't think this can be the only tool in the box. This is only the beginning, if this idea takes off, we hope to help build an UnderNet. This would be an alternate set of privately controlled DNS servers, setup outside of the current 'chain of command'... The first step, is a way to build our own private internet phone books...the next steps should be; alternate registrar software and alternate root server setup, we cannot predict when we can get this done, since we have to make a living somehow. Hopefully, we will gain some motivated assistance...we are even looking at ties to Freenet, and Tor networks. (so called anonymizer networks)
On the home page of this site, you notice the Well Known links, which have an IP based clickable link, as well as the IP address / Real or Virt. The real addresses are directly clickable, the Virt addresses MAY be virtual, and may only be accessible by downloading the file and following the directions to install it. The way this status is determined is not reliable as it depends on a reverse look up, not all hosts maintain proper reverse lookups, as it is not required. (Reverse lookup is simply the reverse of a name lookup...'give me the name from this number'. ) The only reliable way to use the well known links, is through the downloadable file. They are there for reference, and provide a point of sharing for everybody. Stay tuned for future developments"
Comment