"The name server that is authoritative for Microsoft's Web sites might have crippled under a Denial of Service attack, " he said.

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But ask a gamer, and the answer may well be the name of a server that hosts his or her favorite massively multiplayer online game (MMOG).

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Worst of all, the DNS (Domain Name Server) computers used by your ISP can be overwhelmed as they try to translate the names of all the websites subscribers want to visit (say, www.economist.com) into their actual internet addresses (216.35.68.215).

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Type in "Paypal.com, " for instance, and the DNS server owned by your broadband provider converts that name into the Internet Protocol address where the site is hosted.

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The FBI said it seized the web server for UGNazi.com as well as the domain name of Carders.org.

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Open-source programs across the board - the Apache Web server, the Perl programming language and the GNU development tool set, to name a few - are gaining legitimacy as a business platform.

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Specifically, ICANN is responsible for coordinating the assignment of protocol parameters, overseeing the domain name system, allocating IP-address space and managing the root-server system.

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You can initially advertise the availability of IPv6 at a special test domain name for your Web server, say www.v6.company.example.

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Few people realize how much information a DNS server sees can be seen by organizations that are part of the domain name system.

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The attack works by pinging, or making an enquiry, to a DNS, or name server.

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At the same time, deploying apps can often be as small and tidy as their name, in contrast to the expensive, lengthy timelines of their big brothers, server applications.

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