DNS Assurance Services - Product Comparison - DNS Protection Services from VeriSign, Inc.

Directors and Managers of IT have told us their #1 priority is keeping critical commerce and communication systems up and running. Since DNS is key to this end, we have asked what characteristics are most important in a DNS solution. As you can see, VeriSign's DNS Assurance Services is uniquely qualified to address each of these.

	Typical In-House Solution	ISP, Registrar or Web Host	Other Managed DNS Providers	VeriSign DNS Assurance Services
Minimal Upfront Investment	No	Yes	Maybe	Yes
No Excess Resolution Fees	n/a	Maybe	No	Yes
100% Uptime Guarantee	No	No	No	Yes
DNS Management Tool	No	No	Maybe	Yes
Fast Propagation of Change	Maybe	No	Maybe	Yes
24x7 Monitoring	No	Yes	Maybe	Yes
Proven Expertise	Maybe	No	No	Yes
Global Infrastructure	No	Maybe	Maybe	Yes

Minimal Upfront Investment

In establishing a world-class DNS solution, businesses can either build out their own globally deployed infrastructure (at enormous expense) or rely on the existing infrastructure of an established service provider, like VeriSign. The latter approach delivers the common benefits of a managed service, including lower upfront investment, faster time-to-market and lower TCO.

No Excess Resolution Fees

Many DNS managed service providers charge excess resolution fees, which subjects customers to huge overage charges at the end of a month. DNS Assurance Services provides a tiered pricing structure that is set in advance for the duration of an annual contract. This way, you know what you're getting and exactly what you'll pay, allowing you to budget appropriately.

100% Uptime Guarantee

Only VeriSign can claim to have managed the world's largest domains (.com and .net) at 100% uptime reliability for the past 13 years. Because our tried, tested and true systems and processes are also part of the DNS Assurance Services, we can deliver that same level of reliability to our customers. And we stand behind that promise with an SLA that guarantees 100% resolution of your critical DNS information.

DNS Management Tool

Despite its critical nature DNS expertise remains a niche specialty. And with a general lack of effective DNS management tools in the market, the daily tasks of DNS management can easily become the bane of any IT managers existence. DNS Assurance Services provides an easy-to-use Web-based UI for conducting basic and advanced DNS changes. The UI also performs syntax and error-checks to ensure DNS configuration mistakes are not propagated out to the Internet.

Fast Propagation of Changes

The real-time nature of online commerce and communications demands dynamic Web sites and flexible email systems. Yet, many outsourced DNS solutions can take days to propagate the simplest changes to your DNS information, lessening your ability to keep your E-business systems up to speed. DNS Assurance Services propagates your zone file to the Internet in as little as 60 seconds.

24x7 Monitoring and Customer Support

Our customers tell us that one of the major reasons they choose to outsource aspects of their DNS operation is so they "can sleep at night" knowing that DNS will not subject them to system outages. Rest assured, because VeriSign's DNS Assurance customers receive around the clock monitoring of their systems, and a proven methodology for addressing problem situations. DNS Assurance customers in all time zones can be confident their needs will be met swiftly with our 24x7 Customer Services Support center.

Proven Expertise

Knowing your DNS systems are being monitored is only reassuring if you know the people watching are experts in the field of DNS. Not single entity understands DNS better than VeriSign, where managing DNS is a core competency. Over half of the world's active domains are under VeriSign's management, including .com and .net, as well as 2 of the 13 root DNS servers of the Internet. All of these systems have maintained a reliability record unmatched within the industry.

Global Infrastructure

VeriSign manages its high levels of performance, in part, because of its globally distributed infrastructure of 13 name server sites, located at topological cores of the Internet. For our DNS Assurance Services customers, this distributed architecture not only ensures reliability across the entire system, but can actually enhance the user experience of customers located around the globe through quicker resolution times.