[Discuss] DNS providers

[blu at nedharvey.com (Edward Ned Harvey (blu))]

> From: discuss-bounces+blu=nedharvey.com at blu.org [mailto:discuss-
> bounces+blu=nedharvey.com at blu.org] On Behalf Of Tom Metro
> 
> While speed isn't everything, this monthly updated speed comparison is
> one way to identify the top providers that take DNS infrastructure
> seriously:

While I agree this is important and can sometimes have a real impact on users' experience, I just went and measured the time to resolve a bunch of domains I have hosted on various services, to see if I agree with the results published on solvedns.  I found:

Route53:  SolveDNS says ~36ms.  I actually measured 108-120ms.
Godaddy:  SolveDNS says ~84ms.  I actually measured 27ms-32ms.

Namecheap (FreeDNS):  SolveDNS doesn't test them.  I actually measured as low as 20ms, and as high as 199ms, with "typical" seeming to be 100ms-120ms.

I've got to also point out my ping delay:
Pinging Route53 I get 95ms-145ms
Pinging Godaddy I get 22ms-30ms
Pinging Namecheap I get 60ms-62ms

The only conclusion I'm comfortable drawing is that results vary a lot, and the biggest factor is network topology affecting roundtrip packet latency.  My results were dramatically different from those published on SolveDNS, and the most likely explanation is that I'm sitting here on a Verizon Fios network, while they tested from something probably different.