America Online's (AOL) facilities in Dulles, Va. and Mountain View, Calif. were chosen by NSI (NSOL) to be the initial production deployment centers of the two new top level domain name servers. AOL battled it out with a group of 20 leading Internet service providers to perform the hosting duties for NSI.

Domain name server systems are critical to the basic functioning of the Internet. The servers located within AOL data centers will provide search functions for top level domains including .com, .org, and .net.

Bruce Chovnick, Network Solutions' Registry senior vice president and general manager said AOL's excellence at Web infrastructure led firm in its decision to choose AOL as host to its new outsourced name servers.

"The tens of millions of Internet users who depend on Network Solutions for their name resolutions will be supported by a secure, stable and robust infrastructure and AOL will be a significant part of that support," Chovnick said.

AOL's TeraPOP direct connections to the Internet are managed at traffic exchange points with peering partners AboveNet Communications (ABOV), Comstor Network Services, Concentric Network Corp. (CNCX), Conxion, Exodus Communications, Inc. (EXDS), Genuity, Inc., PSiNet, Inc. (PSIX), ServInt Internet Services, WINSTAR Communications Inc. (WCII) and other major Internet providers.

Constructed in 1998 AOL's TeraPOPs have the capacity to move more than 20,000 Mbps to and from the Internet through OC-12 connections.

Matt Korn, AOL senior vice president of network operations, said the Internet community at large would benefit from AOL's lightening-fast infrastructure.

Joe Barrett, AOL vice president of Internet operations, said its selection to be the first organization to host new top level domain name servers for NSI is recognition of AOL's technological success.

"AOL's enormous Internet connectivity, extremely reliable data centers, 24x7 operations and highly skilled staff will ensure these critical name servers have maximum availability and direct access to a large portion of the Internet. The new name servers will be effectively at the center of the Internet," Barrett said.

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

In related news, Network Solutions reported Thursday that its Registrar surpassed 10 million domain name registrations last week. This latest milestone gives NSI the second largest paid subscriber base, second only to its new hosting partner, America Online.

Jim Rutt, NSI chief executive officer, said achieving a registration base of 10 million domain names is only the beginning.

"Network Solutions looks forward to working with the millions of additional businesses and individuals across the globe that are expected to establish a Web presence," Rutt said. "We anticipate these customers will want a host of simple, easy registration services that we can offer today."

According to NSI, the global market for .com, .net and .org domain names is an estimated 160 million. AOL and NSI are well positioned to provide Internet services for the owners of the next 150 million top level domain names.