Earlier this year we announced our first wave of successful Nominet DNS Fund applicants. We’re now pleased to share that a further three projects have kicked off.
To mark National Coding Week, we spoke with Josef Chomyn, Head of Research and Development at CZ.NIC Labs, about Knot Resolver – a DNS project that helps keep online services running smoothly. We covered the specialist skills behind keeping Knot Resolver maintained, and why it needs support from the Nominet DNS Fund.
For people who don’t know DNS, what’s Knot Resolver?
Whenever you type a website name, something has to look up where that site lives on the internet. Knot Resolver does just that. It turns names like example.cz into the numerical addresses computers use. If this doesn’t work well, pages can be slow or fail to load. Knot Resolver helps Internet providers and operators handle these requests quickly, accurately and at scale.
Why did CZ.NIC, a registry, decide to build software like this?
As the .CZ registry, we look after a key part of the internet’s address system – like Nominet does for .UK but in Czech Republic. DNS software is a crucial piece of this role. If only one or two software options existed, any bug or security issue could cause big problems worldwide. By developing Knot Resolver and our authoritative server, we give operators more choice and create extra resilience.
So why is outside funding, like the Nominet DNS Fund, so important?
Open source software is free for others to use, but not free to build or maintain. While we’re a part of CZ.NIC, this work is kept separate. Our team is small and we offer the full version of Knot Resolver to everyone without charging. We have some commercial supporters, but it still doesn’t fully cover the costs. The Nominet DNS Fund lets us move important work forward sooner, without having to choose between essential maintenance and longterm improvements.
What exactly is the Nominet DNS Fund helping you improve in Knot Resolver?
Nominet’s funding is enabling us to introduce smarter prefetching. This means refreshing information before it goes out of date, so answers stay fast and reliable. The resolver learns which data is important to keep fresh, especially in large or cloud-based setups. This reduces delays and makes better use of resources. We already knew we wanted to do this, but with a small team it’s hard to prioritise more significant features. The Nominet DNS Fund support gives us the time and the focus to introduce improvements properly.
What kind of person ends up coding DNS software – what skills does it take?
DNS attracts people who like going deep rather than wide. Our developers often started exploring DNS at university, then stayed with it for years. You need strong C programming skills, a good understanding of networks, and patience for reading standards and edge cases. It also suits people who enjoy solving complex problems that most users never see. You’re thinking about protocols, performance under heavy load, and how your decisions affect the stability of the wider internet.
What does this say about coding careers?
It shows there’s a whole world of important work beyond apps and websites. DNS is a good example. It may not be flashy, but it underpins everything. For people who enjoy detail, standards, and long‑term impact, there’s a real career path here. You can specialise in a narrow area and still influence how the internet works globally. National Coding Week is a good moment to highlight these less visible paths and encourage more people to explore them.
Knot Resolver highlights how meaningful coding focuses on reliability and resilience rather than features and screens. By investing time in careful engineering, the team at CZ.NIC is helping to keep the wider internet trustworthy and efficient. As we mark National Coding Week, it’s a great example of how specialised skills and targeted funding can strengthen the digital services we all depend on every day.
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