GoMo News discovers why DNS matters for operators

Rating: As data traffic grows, so do the threats

Here’s something which GoMo News hardly ever considers – the Domain Name System (DNS) – a key element to the whole internet. Initially, we weren’t quite sure why F5 Networks sent us a Press release on its carrier-grade DNS services which enable CSPs “to scale their DNS infrastructures more efficiently, significantly reduce costs, and more quickly deploy critical new revenue-generating services.” Then we realised that CSPs include mobile network operators. It appears that smartphones may be capable of wreaking far more havoc on the internet than we might first  have assumed. And there’s a growing threat from mobile malware.This is a supporting quote from Akshay Sharma, research director with Gartner who says, “The landscape for communications service providers is shifting radically as data traffic grows relentlessly and traditional business models move from circuit-based voice to all-IP services.

With these changes, DNS services, which have never before taken centre stage for CSPs, are more important than ever.” The big questions is why?

Well the answer is all the data traffic that smartphones generate. These are supporting stats from Gartner which expects mobile data traffic to grow 26-fold worldwide between 2010 and 2015.

Consequently, as the number and type of mobile devices increases and subscribers demand more sophisticated multimedia services, so mobile traffic continues to grow at unprecedented rates. Eek.

“It often comes as a surprise when (mobile network operators) realise their existing DNS infrastructures can’t sustain current traffic demand, let alone handle the increases from voice over IP and other new service offerings,” claimed Linda Hui, managing director, HK/Taiwan with F5.

Here comes the sales pitch. “F5 cost-effectively manages mobile data growth while exceeding user expectations.

A Global 500 telecommunications services company was able to scale to meet rapid data growth, control infrastructure costs, and meet/exceed demanding end-user expectations by using their F5 BIG-IP products.”

So, at least one mobile operator has woken up to the fact that DNS is crucial.

F5 says that the DNS infrastructure must also stand up to escalating security threats such as DDoS (denial of service) attacks, hijacked websites, and mobile phone malware.

Ok – all you mobile network operators out there – you have now been warned.