DNS resource records of consortium chains
1. Challenges faced by DNS systems
Disadvantages of centralized structure: The current DNS system adopts a centralized hierarchical structure, the root server is overloaded, and there are single points of failure and security risks, such as domain name disappearance and access denial risks.
Difficulties in deploying PKI solutions: DNS security solutions based on PKI require modifications to existing protocols, have poor compatibility, and are difficult to deploy on a large scale.
2. How blockchain technology solves DNS problems
Decentralized storage: Using consortium chain technology, DNS resource records are distributed and stored on multiple nodes to avoid single points of failure and improve system fault tolerance.
Immutability: The immutability of blockchain can prevent DNS resource records from being maliciously tampered with, ensuring the security and reliability of domain name resolution.
Collective maintenance: Multiple nodes in the consortium chain jointly participate in maintaining the DNS database to improve data consistency and credibility.
3. System architecture
On-chain storage layer: Use smart contracts to store key information of DNS resource records, such as hash values, signatures, update records, etc., and index complete data in external storage.
Off-chain storage layer: Distributed storage systems such as IPFS are used to store complete DNS resource records, and the hash value is used to associate them with the on-chain information.
User layer: It includes DNS administrators and DNS users. The administrator is responsible for registering, updating and maintaining DNS data, while the user performs domain name resolution through the system.
4. Smart contract design
Consensus contract (CC): Manage node registration, maintain node information, and prevent malicious registration.
Relationship contract (RC): Store DNS hierarchical relationships, record authorization information, and build a trusted domain name management system.
Ownership contract (OC): Record specific domain name information managed by the domain name server, including IP address, external storage link, hash value, etc.
History record contract (HC): Record DNS zone file update information to ensure data traceability and facilitate audit and rollback.
Service contract (SC): Record the service record of the domain name server and provide query services for users.
5. System workflow
Node registration: New nodes need to apply to the blockchain network and can only join after being authorized by the consensus algorithm.
Data update: When the administrator updates the DNS resource record, the updated content needs to be synchronized to the off-chain storage and the relevant information needs to be written to the blockchain.
Information retrieval: When a user queries domain name information, the system returns the complete data stored off-chain, and verifies the authenticity and integrity of the data through hash values and signatures.
2. Short answer questions
Briefly describe the main security challenges facing the current DNS system.
Explain how blockchain technology solves the security issues of the DNS system.
Describe the basic architecture of the decentralized storage system for DNS resource records based on the alliance chain.
Explain what data is stored in the on-chain storage layer and the off-chain storage layer in the system.
List the five smart contracts used in the system and briefly describe their functions.
Explain the role of consensus contracts in the node registration process.
Explain how the system ensures data consistency and traceability when data is updated.
Explain how the system verifies the authenticity and integrity of data when users query domain name information.
Compared with traditional DNSSEC, what are the advantages of this system in domain name verification?
Briefly describe the advantages and potential application scenarios of the system.
3. Answers
The current DNS system mainly faces security challenges brought by the centralized structure, including heavy root server burden, single point failure risk, vulnerability to attacks and domain name hijacking.
Blockchain technology can effectively solve the security issues of the DNS system through the characteristics of decentralized storage, immutability, and collective maintenance. Distributed storage improves fault tolerance, immutability prevents data from being maliciously modified, and collective maintenance ensures data consistency and credibility, thereby improving the security of domain name resolution.
The system adopts a three-layer architecture: the on-chain storage layer uses smart contracts to store key information, the off-chain storage layer uses IPFS to store complete data, and the user layer provides domain name resolution services.
The on-chain storage layer stores key information such as the hash value, signature, and update record of DNS resource records, as well as the link address of external storage; the off-chain storage layer stores the complete DNS zone file.
The five smart contracts are: consensus contract (management node registration), relationship contract (storage hierarchical relationship), ownership contract (record domain name information), history record contract (record update information) and service contract (provide query service).
The consensus contract is responsible for verifying the registered node information, preventing duplicate registration and malicious nodes from joining, and ensuring that the nodes joining the blockchain network are credible.
When data is updated, the system will synchronize the updated content to the off-chain storage and record the updated information and hash value on the blockchain to ensure data consistency and traceability, and facilitate subsequent audit and rollback operations.
When the user queries the domain name information, the system returns the data stored off-chain and provides the hash value and signature information on the blockchain. The user can confirm the authenticity and integrity of the data by comparing the hash value and verifying the signature.
Compared with DNSSEC, this system combines domain name verification with the retrieval process, and does not require separate verification, which shortens the verification path and time and improves efficiency.
The system has the advantages of high security, strong reliability, and good scalability. It can be used to build decentralized domain name resolution services and improve Internet security and stability.
V. Glossary
Term Explanation DNS Domain Name System (Domain Name System), a hierarchical system for converting domain names into IP addresses. PKI Public Key Infrastructure (Public Key Infrastructure), a system that uses digital certificates and public key cryptography to manage identity and security. Blockchain A distributed ledger technology that uses cryptography to link data blocks together to form an unalterable record. Alliance chain A semi-decentralized blockchain network that is jointly managed and maintained by multiple institutions. Smart contracts are program codes that are stored on the blockchain and automatically executed when preset conditions are met. IPFS InterPlanetary File System, a peer-to-peer distributed file system for storing and sharing data. Hash values convert data of any length into a string of fixed length through a hash algorithm, which is used to verify the integrity of the data. Signatures use private keys to encrypt data, and the recipient can use public keys to verify the source and integrity of the data. DNSSECDNS security extensions (Domain Name System Security Extensions), a protocol extension for enhancing DNS security. DNS zone files store configuration files for DNS resource records for specific domain name spaces.