Granted Patent B2

US 8,645,517 · App. 12/978,537 · Granted Feb 4, 2014

Abstract

Claims (54)

1. A method, operable in a framework in which an adaptive traffic control name server network implements policy-based traffic direction, the name server network comprising at least one domain name server comprising hardware in combination with software and constructed and adapted to provide adaptive policy-based domain name service, the method comprising:

(A) providing a graphical user interface (GUI);

(B) using said GUI to obtain at least one policy for direction of network traffic, wherein the GUI supports the setting of said at least one policy using a decision tree representing rules; and

(C) providing said at least one policy to the name server network, wherein the decision tree comprises one or more resource nodes, and one or more branch nodes, wherein the one or more resource nodes specify one or more answers to be provided in response to a Domain Name Service (DNS) request, and wherein the one or more branch nodes specify one or more decision criteria to be applied, and wherein the GUI supports the specification of:

(i) one or more answers for the one or more resource nodes, and

(ii) one or more decision criteria for the one or more branch nodes, wherein the one or more criteria are selected from criteria related to: world zones, countries, states, time zones, and blocks of Internet Protocol (IP) addresses, and wherein the one or more resource nodes are selected from: IP addresses, canonical name (CNAME) records, mail exchange (MX) records, name server (NS) records, and load sharing server sets; and wherein the answers are selected from: IP addresses and CNAMEs.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the at least one policy relates to direction of network traffic based on sub-domains of a domain of a subscriber.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein the at least one policy that relates to direction of network traffic based on sub-domains of a domain of the subscriber relates to one or more of the sub-domains: “ftp”, “download”, “www”, and “images”.

4. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

(D) generating reports based on information gathered from the name server network; and

(E) providing said reports.

5. The method of claim 4 wherein the information gathered from the name server network comprises: DNS log summaries from the at least one domain name server in the name server network.

6. The method of claim 5 wherein the information includes a number of requests directed to particular servers in a given time period.

7. The method of claim 4 wherein the reports are made available via a secure web-based GUI.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein the act (C) comprises:

providing said at least one policy to the name server network as an XML file.

9. An administrative agent, operable in a framework in which an adaptive traffic control name server network implements policy-based traffic direction, the name server network comprising at least one domain name server comprising hardware in combination with software and constructed and adapted to provide adaptive policy-based domain name service, said administrative agent comprising hardware in combination with software and constructed and adapted to:

(a) provide a graphical user interface (GUI);

(b) use said GUI to obtain at least one policy for direction of network traffic, wherein the GUI supports the setting of said at least one policy using a decision tree representing rules; and

(c) provide said at least one policy to the name server network, wherein the decision tree comprises one or more resource nodes, and one or more branch nodes, wherein the one or more resource nodes specify one or more answers to be provided in response to a Domain Name Service (DNS) request, and wherein the one or more branch nodes specify one or more decision criteria to be applied, and wherein the GUI supports the specification of:

(i) one or more answers for the one or more resource nodes, and

(ii) one or more decision criteria for the one or more branch nodes,

wherein the one or more criteria are selected from criteria related to: world zones, countries, states, time zones, and blocks of Internet Protocol (IP) addresses, and

wherein the one or more resource nodes are selected from: IP addresses, canonical name (CNAME) records, mail exchange (MX) records, name server (NS) records, and load sharing server sets; and

wherein the answers are selected from: IP addresses and CNAMEs.

10. The administrative agent of claim 9 wherein the at least one policy relates to direction of network traffic based on sub-domains of a domain of a subscriber.

11. The administrative agent of claim 10 wherein the at least one policy that relates to direction of network traffic based on sub-domains of a domain of the subscriber relates to one or more of the sub-domains: “ftp”, “download”, “www”, and “images”.

12. The administrative agent of claim 9 wherein said administrative agent comprises hardware in combination with software and constructed and adapted to:

(d) generate reports based on information gathered from the name server network; and

(e) provide said reports.

13. The administrative agent of claim 12 wherein the information gathered from the name server network comprises: DNS log summaries from the at least one domain name server in the name server network.

14. The administrative agent of claim 12 wherein the information includes a number of requests directed to particular servers in a given time period.

15. The administrative agent of claim 12 wherein the reports are made available via a secure web-based GUI.

16. The administrative agent of claim 9 wherein said at least one policy is provided to the name server network as an XML file.

17. A system comprising:

(A) an adaptive traffic control name server network comprising at least one domain name server comprising hardware in combination with software and constructed and adapted to provide adaptive policy-based domain name service, and

(B) an administrative agent comprising hardware in combination with software and constructed and adapted to:

(a) provide a graphical user interface (GUI);

(b) use said GUI to obtain at least one policy for direction of network traffic, wherein the GUI supports the setting of said at least one policy using a decision tree representing rules; and

(c) provide said at least one policy to the name server network,

wherein the decision tree comprises one or more resource nodes, and one or more branch nodes,

wherein the one or more resource nodes specify one or more answers to be provided in response to a Domain Name Service (DNS) request, and

wherein the one or more branch nodes specify one or more decision criteria to be applied, and

wherein the GUI supports the specification of:

(i) one or more answers for the one or more resource nodes, and

(ii) one or more decision criteria for the one or more branch nodes,

wherein the one or more criteria are selected from criteria related to: world zones, countries, states, time zones, and blocks of Internet Protocol (IP) addresses, and

wherein the one or more resource nodes are selected from: IP addresses, canonical name (CNAME) records, mail exchange (MX) records, name server (NS) records, and load sharing server sets; and

wherein the answers are selected from: IP addresses and CNAMEs.

18. The system of claim 17 wherein said administrative agent comprises hardware in combination with software and constructed and adapted to:

(d) generate reports based on information gathered from the name server network; and

(e) provide said reports.

19. The system of claim 18 wherein the information gathered from the name server network comprises: DNS log summaries from the at least one domain name server in the name server network.

20. The system of claim 18 wherein the information includes a number of requests directed to particular servers in a given time period.

Assignments (8)