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@elb@social.sdf.org

Post #330679

2026-02-18 20:53 UTC

I reminded my #DistributedSystems class today that DNS is a global, decentralized, eventually consistent database with a continuous uptime and client compatibility window of 40 years, and I'm not sure that they were suitably impressed.

Replies (6)

  • @florian@bsd.network 2026-02-18 21:08

    @elb@social.sdf.org it's also the only one we ever got to work. :flan_royal:

    Open ##2431165

  • @migratory@jorts.horse 2026-02-18 21:36

    @elb@social.sdf.org I typically use this to teach the zeroth law of distributed systems: avoid building one if at all possible. DNS is a great example, where if people are willing to compromise on global agreement on names (just like there isn't one globally agreed-upon "jeff"), then you no longer need a distributed system and can instead use something like petnames, emulating how folks refer to non-computer things (and how folks named computers on internetworks before DNS)

    Open ##2431172

  • @sean@scoat.es 2026-02-18 21:54

    @elb@social.sdf.org @evan@cosocial.ca And TTL provides built-in caching mechanics (especially permission)!

    Open ##2431174

  • @foxbasealpha@tech.lgbt 2026-02-18 23:04

    @elb@social.sdf.org We’ve sleepwalked into breaking that resiliency by relying on about 4 major providers of DNS services though. The protocol itself is designed to be bombproof and self-healing, but somehow we’ve managed to undermine that…

    Open ##2431176

  • @elb@social.sdf.org And without even using Kubernetes or AWS!

    Open ##2431182

  • @morerunes@is.nota.live 2026-02-19 22:42

    @elb@social.sdf.org how did they do this without MS Teams and Jira though 😔

    Open ##2431186