NetActuate, a leading provider of global infrastructure solutions, was proud to have its Vice President of Infrastructure, Mark Price, and DevOps Engineer Craig Jackson to participate in the ICANN79 conference. (ICANN is the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers.) As an active contributor to the internet infrastructure ecosystem, NetActuate’s team enjoyed engaging with industry peers, showcasing expertise, and exploring emerging trends in DNS and global networking. You can watch the opening presenters set the stage for this event.
Jackson kicked off the event by attending the ICANN Welcoming Ceremony with the Puerto Rican Tourism Association and had a wonderful time learning about the local history and culture.
Presenting Technical Insights
On the first “Tech Day,” Price presented a talk titled “DNS Monitoring: Hands-On Look at Observability for Authoritative DNS Operators” to an audience comprising approximately 100 individuals, including both remote participants and in-person attendees. The session walked participants through effective monitoring strategies for authoritative DNS, as well as real-world examples and actionable steps and tools to consider. This session not only highlighted NetActuate’s proficiency in DNS monitoring but also underscored the company’s commitment to delivering robust solutions. The configuration and DevOps tooling were shared on a GitHub repository, which was downloaded over 30 times following their presentation.
Connecting with Customers and the ICANN Community
At ICANN79, NetActuate was able to connect with long-time partners and customers, and actively sought opportunities to meet and engage with global ICANN community members. Price and Jackson talked with numerous operators, engineers, and technicians, exploring potential avenues for NetActuate to engage more in ICANN’s community-driven initiatives. By fostering collaborative partnerships and contributing to industry discourse, NetActuate aims to play a proactive role in shaping the future of internet infrastructure.
Networking and Knowledge Sharing
ICANN79 provided a conducive environment for networking and knowledge sharing among industry peers. Price talked with attendees and presenters about different approaches to monitoring, exchanging insights, and exploring innovative solutions. One notable highlight was Fred Neves’ talk about LACTLD, an organization created in 1998 to represent regional interests of local domain names and promote capacity building in registries with offices in Latin America and the Caribbean. Neves discussed how LACTLD expanded its anycast across LATAM (Latin America), which provided valuable insights into the evolving landscape of global infrastructure deployment.
For Jackson, ICANN allowed him to learn about the challenges of solving the struggle of digital identity management. The different requirements for “trust” pose a large and difficult problem to solve as different countries require varying information for identity verification. This causes costly issues and delays when registering domain names or businesses on a global scale. Despite ongoing efforts by a few teams to streamline this process, there remains a significant need for unified identity verification and authorization processing.
Jackson also attended several talks about ways to make DNSSEC more available and rapidly deployable across multiple DNS services. He noted that there is considerable work being done in several organizations to increase visibility of DNSSEC chains of trust.
Conclusion
NetActuate’s participation in ICANN79 is part of our overall commitment to driving innovation, fostering collaboration, and staying at the forefront of global network developments. We are looking forward to attending future events and participating in the global network community.
