ns1: Rewriting Internet Infrastructure with Code

The Foundation of Modern Internet Software: NS1's Origin Story

The most crucial foundational layer within the contemporary technology infrastructure for internet-based software has a surprisingly humble beginning. Its most compelling development was initially sketched on a napkin during a meeting in a New York City establishment, and subsequently materialized into approximately twenty lines of Python code.

This exemplifies the current landscape of technological advancement, and it precisely describes the genesis of NS1. Kris Beevers, in collaboration with Jonathan Sullivan and Alex Vayl, aimed to fundamentally reconstruct the internet’s core addressing mechanism – the Domain Name System, or DNS – shifting its role from a mere expense to a vital asset for software dependability and financial efficiency.

From Concept to Opportunity

This concept, conceived in 2012, gained significant traction several years later. A timely disruption experienced by a competing provider resulted in hundreds of websites becoming inaccessible, creating a substantial opportunity for NS1.

NS1’s core function is to enhance the stability of internet networks. However, the company’s narrative is also deeply rooted in a strong network of engineers who initially connected at a relatively obscure New York City startup called Voxel.

The Voxel Connection

Voxel unintentionally functioned as an incubator, fostering the growth of numerous large-scale enterprise companies and successful exits. It provided a fertile ground for innovation and collaboration.

A Classic Startup Journey

Serendipitous meetings, ambitious engineering efforts, and fortunate circumstances define this quintessential startup story. These elements are collectively reshaping the landscape of software distribution.

The impact of NS1 extends beyond simply providing DNS services; it represents a paradigm shift in how we approach internet infrastructure and software delivery.

Key Takeaways

NS1 was born from a simple idea sketched on a napkin.
The company aims to transform DNS from a cost center to a value driver.
A competitor's outage provided a crucial opportunity for growth.
The founders' shared history at Voxel was instrumental to NS1's success.
NS1 is contributing to a more reliable and efficient internet.

The Origins of NS1: A Story of Learning and Growth

The narrative of NS1 commenced at the beginning of the new millennium. Beevers, while an undergraduate student at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) in upstate New York, secured employment with a small file-sharing startup known as Aimster, alongside fellow students from RPI. This experience marked his initial exposure to the fast-paced environment of an internet startup during the dot-com era, and it was also where he first encountered Raj Dutt, a promising engineer who would become a significant professional connection over the subsequent two decades.

By 2007, Beevers had successfully earned his Ph.D. in robotic mapping from RPI. He then ventured into co-founding and managing an engineered-wood-product company, SolidJoint Research, Inc., for a period of ten months. However, he soon returned to the internet sector, rejoining former colleagues from Aimster at Voxel, a company established by Dutt.

Voxel: A Crucible of Experience

Voxel offered a diverse range of services, encompassing fundamental web hosting, server co-location, content delivery networks, and DNS services. Beevers reflected, “Voxel was one of those companies where you learn a lot because you’re doing way more than you rightfully should.” The company was fundamentally driven by a passion for technology and a dedication to problem-solving.

The New York City-based organization expanded to approximately 60 employees before its acquisition by Internap Network Services in December 2011 for a sum of $35 million.

Beevers emphasized that “Voxel was a really formative experience not just for me, but I think for almost everybody that was there.” The company’s technology-focused culture and entrepreneurial spirit would subsequently serve as a catalyst for numerous NYC-based startups.

A Network of Founders

Following the acquisition, Dutt moved on to establish Grafana, an open-source data visualization platform that has secured over $75 million in funding. Voxel’s former COO, Zachary Smith, founded bare metal cloud provider Packet in 2013, leading the company as CEO until its acquisition by Equinix in March 2020 for $335 million. Justin Biegel, who previously held an operations role at Voxel, has raised close to $62 million for his startup, Kentik. Notably, NS1 itself emerged from this same network of alumni.

Dutt stated, “It turned out to be a tremendous incubator for a bunch of people to go on and start new companies based on their experience at Voxel.” He added, “In retrospect, that was one of the best possible educations in internet infrastructure and scaling distributed systems.”

Key Lessons Learned

The process of scaling Voxel yielded valuable insights. Dutt highlighted that possessing a technically superior product is insufficient without a robust go-to-market strategy.

He explained, “We were a bunch of engineers and we had the typical technical founder mindset of, like, “Hey, if we build a better mousetrap, the world will beat a path to our door,” he said. “Nope, that’s not the way the world works, right? So that was definitely a big lesson.”

Another crucial takeaway was the significance of adequate capital to capitalize on emerging opportunities. Dutt noted, “We were constantly struggling to meet payroll and to buy new servers, and we could only grow as fast as our organic cash flow allowed.” He further stated, “In retrospect, if we had been better capitalized, we could have taken that company a lot further.”

These pivotal lessons profoundly influenced Beevers as he embarked on the creation of NS1.

Singaporean Satay and Rapid Content Delivery

The core concept behind NS1 originated from a content delivery network (CDN) that Beevers assisted in developing during his time at Voxel.

Essentially, a CDN is a network designed to efficiently distribute content, such as images – even popular ones like cat pictures. Users expect immediate access to content, and providers aim to deliver it swiftly, ensuring a positive experience while controlling expenses. Voxel successfully addressed this optimization and infrastructure challenge with its own CDN solution.

The Genesis of an Idea

Beevers served as the principal software architect at Voxel from 2008 to 2012, a period that included living in Singapore. During an evening with CEO Dutt, while enjoying satay on a local street, they discussed the complexities of directing traffic across Voxel’s CDN infrastructure for accelerated delivery.

This discussion centered on the optimization of DNS, a critical component of the internet.

DNS functions as a translator, connecting human-readable domain names, like techcrunch.com, to the corresponding IP addresses, such as 212.82.100.163. In the early days of the web, most sites resided on a single server due to limited scale.

The Evolution of DNS

However, as websites grew, they needed to handle millions of concurrent user connections, exceeding the capacity of even the most powerful servers. Leading websites now rely on dozens, hundreds, or even millions of servers, necessitating a parallel evolution of DNS technology.

Modern DNS systems now route traffic with sub-microsecond response times, directing users to specific servers based on their location and requested content.

Voxel faced the challenge of defining intricate traffic steering rules to optimize request routing. Beevers and Dutt observed that Voxel’s clients encountered similar traffic management issues within their own infrastructures.

Beevers envisioned a service that could assist organizations in optimizing their traffic and DNS configurations.

Global Performance and the Speed of Light

He noted that only a handful of internet properties consistently delivered strong performance globally. Google was a prime example, achieving this through substantial investments in relocating code and data centers closer to major population hubs.

“By 2012, it was widely understood that users in Singapore were just as important as those in Ashburn, Virginia, or Amsterdam,” Beevers explained. “The speed of light is a fundamental limitation, so bringing code and data closer to the audience is essential.”

Beevers soon realized that the problems he had solved internally at Voxel were widespread, and this realization ultimately fueled the creation of NS1.

DNS: Domain Name System, translates domain names to IP addresses.
CDN: Content Delivery Network, distributes content for faster access.

Name Server 1

Following a period based in Singapore, Beevers relocated back to New York City in 2012. During an early day in 2013, Beevers and Jonathan Sullivan, a colleague from Voxel, met for drinks at Fraunces Tavern after work. This tavern was conveniently situated near Voxel’s offices in lower Manhattan.

Over a stout, the foundational concept for what would become NS1 was sketched on a napkin – a napkin Beevers still retains, though its exact location is currently unknown. This idea stemmed from earlier discussions Beevers had with Dutt in Singapore the previous year, but this time, it marked the genesis of a new business venture.

Soon after, Alex Vayl, another Voxel colleague, joined Sullivan and Beevers in establishing NS1. Each founder possessed a unique skillset; Beevers specialized in software development, Vayl contributed marketing expertise, and Sullivan provided operational proficiency.

The newly formed company didn’t require a significant relocation to begin operations.

1 napkin and 22 lines of code, or how ns1 rewrote the rules of internet infrastructure

DNS relies on name servers, which function as directories translating easily remembered domain names into the numerical IP addresses of servers. Traditionally, websites and internet service providers (ISPs) have designated the primary name server in a domain record as “ns1,” short for Name Server 1. For example, TechCrunch’s initial name server is ns1.techcrunch.com, directing users from “techcrunch.com” to the IP address of one of their servers.

This naming convention naturally lent itself to the new startup, and fortuitously, Beevers already owned the domain name NS1.com. He hadn’t recently acquired it; in fact, he had originally registered the domain back in 1996.

“Like many in the technology field, I occasionally brainstorm potential domain names during my free time, and I simply purchased it,” Beevers explained. “The process was that straightforward.”

Whether by foresight or chance, the development of NS1 had commenced.

The Evolution of NS1: From Initial Code to Venture Funding

NS1’s origins, from a technical standpoint, can be traced back to 22 lines of Python code. This code was initially drafted by Beevers while at his New York City apartment, serving as the foundation for what would become NS1’s core filter chain technology.

This technology functions as the company’s primary mechanism for directing DNS traffic, guided by a defined set of rules and policies. The concept itself was inspired by similar challenges encountered during Beevers’ time at Voxel.

While those initial 22 lines have expanded significantly over time, they remain symbolic of the company’s ethos: a commitment to experimentation and innovation. The initial code proved functional enough for Beevers to manage his own domains and those of his acquaintances, continually improving with each iteration.

“This iterative process was instrumental in our early progress,” Beevers stated.

The co-founders secured an initial seed round for NS1, with participation from Dutt, the former CEO of Voxel. Dutt clarified that his investment wasn’t based on personal obligation, but rather a calculated business decision. He expressed confidence in Beevers’ capabilities and anticipated a successful return on investment.

It wasn’t until NS1 began generating revenue that Beevers actively sought venture capital to facilitate scaling. He collaborated with Dutt to develop the company’s first formal pitch deck, believing a refined presentation combined with the team’s strong technical expertise would expedite the funding process.

However, securing the first venture round proved more challenging than anticipated, requiring over 70 pitches.

Beevers approached this process with the same iterative mindset he applied to the initial code expansion. “We are, at our core, experimentalists and embrace iterative improvement,” he explained. Consequently, he and his co-founders analyzed feedback from each pitch to refine their approach.

Feedback consistently highlighted the need for a more comprehensive educational component. While DNS is a familiar acronym within the technology sector, it’s a technology that few engineers – and even fewer venture capitalists – had thoroughly considered.

Investors required a clear understanding of the evolving landscape that made NS1’s technology unique, and why DNS represented an area of the tech stack poised for innovation.

Even after addressing these concerns, Beevers still needed to demonstrate NS1’s unique ability to execute its vision, and explain why established DNS providers like DynDNS couldn’t achieve the same results.

“Ultimately, we identified investors who were receptive to our ideas, possessed the technical understanding to evaluate them accurately, and were willing to collaborate with our team, believing in our ability to overcome these challenges,” Beevers said. NS1 ultimately secured a $5.4 million Series A round, led by Flybridge and Sigma Prime, on April 7, 2015.

In September 2016, the company followed up with a $23 million Series B round, backed by Deutsche Telekom Capital Partners, Telstra, and Two Sigma. Beevers emphasized his deliberate strategy of partnering with major players in the telecommunications industry, specifically Deutsche Telekom and Telstra.

The rationale was straightforward: both telecommunications companies boasted extensive networks and robust connectivity, particularly in EMEA and Asia. NS1 aimed to enhance its capacity and performance in these regions. Furthermore, both companies had experience in security, a growing concern at the time, and a factor that would soon become paramount.

The DynDNS Attack and its Impact on NS1

According to Beevers, the attack on DynDNS, occurring between the initial and B1 funding rounds, proved to be a pivotal moment. He specifically remembers October 21, 2016, as a turning point for their business. At the time, Dyn was a significant competitor, a status that has since changed.

In 2016, DynDNS functioned as a leading provider of managed DNS services. On this critical date, the company became the target of a large-scale distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack. This type of attack aims to disrupt a service by overwhelming it with an immense and continuous flow of traffic.

Reports from TechCrunch and other news sources detailed how the DynDNS attack caused widespread internet outages. Popular platforms like Twitter, Reddit, Spotify, GitHub, and SoundCloud experienced accessibility issues as a result.

Beevers noted a substantial shift in their business immediately following this incident.

The 2016 DynDNS attack prompted engineers to prioritize increased redundancy within their DNS infrastructure. A significant surge in demand for NS1’s services followed, as organizations sought alternative managed DNS providers. This trend continued into 2017, culminating in NS1’s $20 million Series B1 funding round led by GGV and Salesforce Ventures in September.

Over the subsequent two years, NS1 expanded its offerings beyond core managed DNS, venturing into related areas of enterprise networking. This growth was supported by additional capital infusions. A $33 million Series C round, backed by Dell and Cisco Investments, was secured in October 2019, followed by a $40 million Series D led by Energy Impact Partners in July of the following year.

Beevers explained that the 2020 funding round reflected a growing awareness among internet companies regarding the rapid pace of change and the central role of the network. This understanding has been a long-held belief for him, dating back to his acquisition of the NS1.com domain in 1996 and his initial planning at Fraunces Tavern in 2013.

“The inherent universality of DNS presents a compelling opportunity,” Beevers stated. “Every network application relies on DNS; all internet activity begins with a domain name entry in a browser or an app connecting to a specific address.”

NS1’s success as an enterprise vendor isn’t solely based on DNS; it serves as a foundation for delivering its core value proposition – enhancing the performance of applications and services. A detailed examination of NS1’s technology and services will be provided in the second installment of this EC-1.