Overview

Data centers already consume a significant share of global electricity as digital services grow rapidly, and experts expect this demand to rise substantially in the coming years.

While much of the focus has been on compute and storage, the Domain Name System (DNS) — a fundamental part of Internet communications; remains an overlooked contributor to energy consumption. DNS operates continuously and has a highly distributed architecture. Evolving security mechanisms such as DNS-over-HTTPS (DoH), DNS-over-TLS (DoT), and DNS Security (DNSSEC) also add computational overhead, further increasing DNS energy use.

Although DNS traffic accounts for only a small fraction of overall network traffic, its persistent activity, global scale, and central role in modern Internet services create a non-negligible energy footprint that researchers have yet to fully understand.

The need to address this gap motivates the DECODES project.

It aims to develop a rigorous, comprehensive understanding of DNS-related energy consumption by analyzing the trade-offs among performance, security, and sustainability. By combining measurement, modeling, and optimization, DECODES seeks to establish a scientific foundation for energy-efficient DNS design and operation, ensuring that Internet infrastructure remains both secure and environmentally sustainable.