I’ve been playing with the Google Maps API.

The Google Maps API allows the inclusion of google maps on your own pages, and you can use the Asynchronous JavasScript and XML (AJAX) to interact with the maps. It is all very interesting, and I want to do more with this – not least because of the seamless fusion between GIS data (of which I have a fair amount) and the web.

I have previously used MAPServer, but whilst google maps does not have all the feautures of MAPServer, it odes come with a complete set of maps included!

So here is the problem. At www.root-servers.org you will find a complete list of the 13 DNS root name servers that make all other name service lookups work. But where are these root name servers?

Well this is not accurate to the street level, but I used the information on the site to geocode locations for the root name servers, and you can view them at myRoot Nameservers page.

In the last few years there has been much experimentation and roll out of IPv4 Anycast Services to clone the functionality of these thirteen key root name servers. This reduces the clustering of all the vital name servers around the Washington DC area, and provides faster lookup to localities that were historically far removed from the nameservers. I again geocoded data from root-servers.org to come up with this page of the current location of all Worldwide Root Nameservers.

Let me know what you think.