Amazon doesn't use Route 53 for amazon.com
20 hours ago
- #Dogfooding
- #DNS
- #AWS
- AWS experienced a significant outage in October 2025 due to DNS resolution failures affecting DynamoDB’s API endpoints, disrupting major platforms.
- Amazon doesn’t use its own AWS Route 53 service for amazon.com’s DNS, opting for third-party DNS infrastructure from Vercara (formerly Neustar’s UltraDNS).
- Dogfooding (using your own products internally) is a practice that improves quality assurance, credibility, and employee understanding.
- Companies like Atlassian and Slack use dogfooding to test new features internally before releasing them to customers.
- DNS Check monitors its own critical DNS records using its service, ensuring reliability and identifying potential improvements.
- Amazon’s decision to use UltraDNS for amazon.com predates Route 53’s launch in 2010, and migrating such a critical domain carries significant risk.
- The October 2025 outage highlights the importance of DNS reliability and the potential benefits of using Route 53 for amazon.com.
- Steps to verify Amazon’s DNS infrastructure include checking authoritative nameservers, comparing with Route 53 patterns, and identifying ownership.
- Amazon’s lack of dogfooding with Route 53 means missed opportunities for operational experience, incident response, customer confidence, and feature validation.
- Proactive DNS monitoring is essential to detect issues early and prevent cascading problems, as demonstrated by the AWS outage.