P4DNS: In-Network DNS

Abstract

In-network computing offers an appealing scalability trajectory for network services, as application performance scales with network devices. Despite its potential, in-network computing may not be suitable for all applications, due to paradigm assumptions and network-device limitations. As users' Internet demands keep growing, any limitations on the scalability of network services such as DNS limits the scalability of end-to-end experience. In this paper we present P4DNS, an in-network DNS solution, exploring the span and limitations of implementing a realistic network service within a network device using P4. P4DNS is a high performance DNS server, implemented in P4 over NetFPGA and providing ×52 performance improvement compared with software-based solutions. P4DNS provides insight into the limitations of implementing in-network services using today's paradigms, and the trade-offs between data and control planes.