Analysis of Time-To-Live DNS Settings

Abstract

Choosing the optimal Time-To-Live (TTL) values is particularly important for the Domain Name System (DNS) as it can significantly improve the performance of the network through caching. In this work, we investigate and show evidence of both misconfigurations and suboptimal TTL settings. We claim that domain content and host location have little to no impact on the domain DNS TTL. We are the first to our knowledge to demonstrate the non-coherent differences between TTL values for A and AAAA record types who serve similar purpose. Finally, we describe the relationship between concrete TTL values from various sources, including popular domain lists and a country code domain list, with recommended values and default parameters. In addition, we discuss their adoption compared to more optimal configurations which we present on the basis of investigations supported by factual data.

Sylvain LAPEYRADE

Data Scientist & PhD Student

My interests include Artificial Intelligence, Data Science, Machine Learning and Games.