Anycast is widely used in DNS root server deployments to improve resiliency, spread load and reduce latency. However, its effects on performance have not been studied in depth. We describe methodologies to determine the performance of anycast DNS service both from the client and the server side and to determine the benefit of each node in the anycast cloud. We use the methodologies to provide results on the performance of the K-root server, showing that anycast is effective in reducing latency and that its effects are largely constant over time. We also evaluate the benefit of the global nodes in the anycast cloud, showing that with the exception of the Delhi node, all nodes provide benefit to clients. Finally, we briefly examine the impact of client instance switches, showing that they do not present a serious problem in the current K-root deployment.

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