CATNIX provides its participants with replicas of four root servers of DNS (Domain Name System), F, J, K and L, besides replicas of .com, .net and .cat.

DNS servers, which translate domain names to IP addresses, work hierarchically. Thus, to resolve the www.catnix.net address, a root server will be consulted, one of the .net domain and, finally, one of the catnix.net domain, which will return the requested IP address. Therefore, to consult any address, you must first ask for a root server. The closer the root servers are, the faster you get there and the faster the response is.

There are 13 root servers (from A to M) operated by different entities. The reduced number of root servers and the high concentration in the United States (10 in North American territory, 2 in Europe and one in Japan) resulted in a weakness in security and stability, especially in terms of DDoS attacks.

This explains the need of replicas distributed around the world, because when the DNS does not work or the access is degraded, common applications such as the web or email are useless or penalized.

Available root servers at CATNIX are managed by:.