Peace, Love And Linux For Microsoft
According to Netcraft, Microsoft changed its DNS so that requests for the company's Web site now resolve to Akamai Technologies' caching system, which runs Linux, instead of Microsoft's own network. Thus, Netcraft reports that www.microsoft.com is run on Linux, not Windows Server 2003.
Essentially, Microsoft is using Akamai by putting its Web hosts behind the Akamai network and repointing the domain-name service entry for windowsupdate.com. This protects Microsoft from denial-of-service (DoS) attacks, such as the infamous "Blaster" worm, by spreading the attack among many servers using a distributed defense. The Blaster worm was set to flood the address windowsupdate.com with a massive DoS attack, but the address was designed to redirect it to another Microsoft Web site; the software company, however, switched off the redirection before it got "Blasted."
You can hardly blame Microsoft for taking extreme measures to protect itself; Worm Week (technically, the rash of virus attacks lasted longer than a week) ravaged PCs and systems across the globe--most of which run on Microsoft software. Microsoft officials confirmed that it was using Akamai--and Linux. Thus, the world's largest software company is keeping its friends close--and its enemies even closer.