Incorrect setting of GEO of an IP server and DNS: what can it cause and how to
avoid it?
When the discussion about GEO settings of an IP server comes up, you might come
across the story of Joyce Taylor. An elderly farmer from Kansas, USA, experienced a
great deal of anxiety due to an incorrectly set GEO of an IP server and DNS, in open
source. MaxMind, the company that owns the database, is responsible for the error.
Their decision to simplify one of the coordinate pointers by shortening its shape
resulted in 600 million IP addresses being redirected to the area where Mrs. Taylor
lived.
So let's explore why misconfiguring a GEO of an IP server and DNS can turn into
such a huge error and how to fix it.
How to obtain the data that an IP address belongs to a specific GEO?
An IP address does not provide information about the city or ISP to which it belongs.
Companies that use IP addresses to determine GEO, such as the infamous MaxMind,
offer a database of addresses, their locations and coordinates.
Services that determine data by IP are databases that report subnet and GEO.
However,
not all services can guarantee accurate data due to several reasons:
- The resource updates its databases infrequently.
- The resource removes some of the information, making it difficult or
impossible to find full and recent data.
- The resource is forced to use the most similar data instead of the necessary
missing data. This is exactly what happened with Mrs. Taylor - the address
of her farm was mistakenly associated with a similar IP address for which
there was no confirmed information.
How to avoid the error of an incorrectly installed GEO of an IP server?
If you encounter issues with a specific source due to incorrect GEO of an
IP address or DNS, it is necessary to verify the data in multiple databases, such
as Whatleaks, 2ip.ua, and others. However, keep in mind that the information
from these databases could be inaccurate, because they often copy and parse
data from each other.
When using a proxy, it is crucial to verify the vendor's reputation. If there are
any errors in the database, you should ask for an explanation. You can also
monitor the final output of the IP and test the performance. If the proxy
functions correctly, it means that any incorrect GEO specification is a
database error.
Conclusion
If this issue occurs, you need to exclude IP address subnets from the databases.
Incorrect specification of the country or city of the IP address can always be
corrected. You should test the output of the address on a resource, for example,
on a social network or search engine. If performance is reduced, contact the
technical support of the proxy provider and request an explanation.