DNS for I2P: a Distributed Network without Central Authority

DNS for I2P: a Distributed Network without Central Authority

FOSDEM 2023

A fully distributed network does not have - by definition - a central authority. Nevertheless overlay networks, like I2P ("Invisible Internet Project") do have the need for a DNS. Also, by definition, there is nothing like trust between peers of such a network. Typically such a problem might be solved using a distributed storage layer driven by a byzantine fault tolerant consensus algorithm. Students of the Lucerne University of Applied Science and Arts created mid December 2022 a prototype solution including an API.

The presentation has the following content:

• Short introduction to the concept of the I2P network and its b32 naming space (3')
• Motivation: Why the I2P network needs a DNS (4')
• Setup: the tools, a distributed layer to store data and an I2P test network (3')
• Byzantine Fault Tolerance as consensus algorithm (2')
• Design and usage of the DNS API for I2P (5')
• Review and outlook (3')
• Discussion: feedback from DNS devs (10')

Speakers: Konrad Bächler