1. A system for enabling network edge devices to perform domain name categorization and filtering, the system comprising at least one processor and storage on
which is stored computer-executable instructions which, when executed by the at least
one processor, cause the system to:
10 receive domain name system (DNS) requests from two or more network
edge devices, including a first network edge device associated with a first geographic characteristic and a second network edge device associated with a second
geographic characteristic;
generate a first domain name cache for DNS requests associated with the
15 first geographic characteristic, the first domain name cache including a first plurality of records, each record of the first plurality of records associating a domain
name with a respective DNS resolution and a respective category;
generate a second domain name cache for DNS requests associated with
second geographic characteristic, the second domain name cache including a sec20 ond plurality of records, each of the second plurality of records associating a respective domain name with a respective DNS resolution and a respective category;
receive a request from a third network edge device, the request including
an indication of a third geographic characteristic associated with the third network
25 edge device;
select one of the first domain name cache or the second domain name
cache based on a comparison of the third geographic characteristic with the first
geographic characteristic and the second geographic characteristic; and
transmit the selected domain name cache to the third network edge device.
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2. The system of claim 1, wherein a said received DNS request includes an
indication of a domain name.
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3. The system of claim 1, wherein a said received DNS request includes an
indication of a domain name and a respective category for the domain name.
5 4. The system of any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein a said geographic characteristic includes an indication of any one or more of:
an economic zone;
a country;
a state;
10 a city;
a town; or
a custom region.
5. The system of any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein generating the first do15 main name cache for DNS requests associated with the first geographic characteristic
comprises:
processing the DNS requests associated with the first geographic characteristic to
identify a first plurality of domain names;
transmitting one or more requests for domain name categorization to a domain
20 name categorization server to determine a respective category for each of the first plurality of domain names;
receiving categorization data including an indication of one or more DNS categories for each of the first plurality of domain names;
transmitting one or more requests for domain name resolution to a DNS server to
25 determine a domain name resolution for each of the first plurality of domain names;
receiving DNS resolution data including a DNS resolution for each of the first
plurality of domain names; and
storing the first plurality of domain names in association with the respective categorization data and DNS resolution data.
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6. The system of any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein generating a second domain name cache for DNS requests associated with the second geographic characteristic
comprises:
processing the DNS requests associated with the second geographic characteristic
5 to identify a second plurality of domain names;
transmitting one or more requests for domain name categorization to a domain
name categorization server to determine a respective category for each of the second plurality of domain names;
receiving categorization data including an indication of one or more DNS catego10 ries for each of the second plurality of domain names;
transmitting one or more requests for domain name resolution to a DNS server to
determine a domain name resolution for each of the second plurality of domain names;
receiving DNS resolution data including a DNS resolution for each of the second
plurality of domain names; and
15 storing the second plurality of domain names in association with the respective
categorization data and DNS resolution data.
7. The system of any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein if the second domain name
cache comprises fewer than a predetermined number of domain names, then generating
20 the second domain name cache further comprises selecting one or more domain names
from the first plurality of domain names for inclusion in the second domain name cache.
8. The system of claim 7, wherein each of the first plurality of domain names
is associated with a respective popularity score representative of a number of DNS re25 quests including the respective domain name of the first plurality of domain names, and
wherein selecting one or more domain names from the first plurality of domain names for
inclusion in the second domain name cache prioritizes domain names based on their respective popularity scores.
30 9. The system of any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the DNS requests include
an indication of GeoIP information associated with the respective network edge device
from which they are received, and generating the first domain name cache and the second
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domain name cache comprises sorting the DNS requests based on a comparison of their
respective GeoIP with the first geographic characteristic and the second geographic characteristic.
5 10. The system of any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein if it is determined that the
first geographic characteristic matches the third geographic characteristic based on the
comparison, then the first domain name cache is selected for transmitting to the third
network edge device.