Unbound Domain Name Server Updated to Run on Windows

Nominet Supports NLnet Labs in Its Development of Windows Unbound

June 12, 2009; 08:24 AM

LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--NLnet Labs and Nominet today announces Unbound, an open source domain name server (DNS), is now available to all Windows operating systems including Windows XP and Vista. This Unbound update further supports the deployment of Domain Name System Security Extensions (DNSSEC), a technology designed to enhance the security of the Internet as a whole.

Windows Unbound is Ipv6 compatible recursive caching validating DNS server. It looks up the domain name in the global DNS system to get the address and stores it to allow ISPs, broadband suppliers, or cable companies, to quickly direct end-users to their desired websites. It also performs DNSSEC validation checks on the DNS data, verifying that the information it retrieves is both correct and authentic. Such checks help protect users of the Internet against a range of security exploits.

Unbound was already available on Unix varieties such as Linux, OS X, and FreeBSD” says Wouter Wijngaards, the project’s leader at NLnet Labs; “But we are keen for as many users as possible to reap the benefits from Unbound, which is why we have made it available to Windows platforms. There are millions of Windows users and it is great that we can now offer our high performance, secure, alternative (to Berkeley Internet Name Domain (BIND)) domain name server, for more platforms.”

Lesley Cowley, CEO at Nominet continues; “Domain name servers are an incredibly important but completely hidden part of the Internet. Continued development of Unbound is an important part of ensuring that the DNS infrastructure is kept up to date and protected against security threats.”

Windows Unbound is available as a download from http://unbound.net/download.html, and runs in the same way as it would run on Unix systems. The code is open source and can be used in other products under the BSD license. It has been designed to be as accessible to developers as possible.

Notes to Editors

About Windows Unbound
Unbound was written by NLnet Labs, over the course of 2007, based on a prototype and with support from the people at Verisign labs, Nominet, Kirei and ep.net. The Windows port of unbound was written in 2009. NLnet Labs is a public benefit foundation that aims to provide open source and open standards tools for internet communication. It is committed to provide maintenance for unbound.

It runs on many operating systems, such as Solaris, FreeBSD, NetBSD, OpenBSD, MacOS, Windows and Linux (fedora, debian, ubuntu and others). NLnet Labs is based in the Netherlands. In early 2008 the 1.0 version was released to the public.

About NLNetLabs
NLnet Labs is based in the Netherlands and was founded in 1999 by Stichting NLnet. It is a non-profit public benefit research foundation aimed at providing open source and open standards tools for internet communication.

It focuses on developments in Internet technology. It provides a bridge between theory and practical deployment that need to be built; and areas where development, engineering, and standardisation takes place. Stichting NLnet has provided a long-term commitment in the form of a subsidy contract such that NLnet Labs can guarantee support for the software it develops. It is committed to provide maintenance for Unbound.

NLnet Labs key activities are to develop, implement, evaluate, and promote new protocols and applications for the Internet. Its activities are focused on topics directly relating to the Internet's infrastructure, such as DNS, DNSSEC, IPv6, and routing.

About Nominet
Nominet operates at the heart of e-commerce in the UK, running one of the world’s largest Internet registries and managing over seven million domain names. Nominet maintains the register of .uk domain names and runs the DNS infrastructure that keeps .uk working.

It runs the technology that locates a computer in the Internet hosting the web site or email system you’re looking for when you type in a web address or send an email to an address that ends in .uk.

Nominet is a not-for-profit company limited by guarantee that has members not shareholders, pays no dividends and its charges only cover its running costs. Anyone with an interest in the Internet may become a member. Nominet has over 2,800 members representing all areas of the Internet industry.

Nominet also runs the Tier 1 registry for UK ENUM, a new UK registry service that combines telephone numbers and the Domain Name System to simplify the way telephone calls over the Internet work. ENUM lets callers know that you can receive VoIP calls – it allows more VoIP calls to be connected directly over the Internet, for no charge, rather than via the traditional PSTN network.

Source: www.businesswire.com