Frequently Asked Questions

Design and Architecture

Why did you build this project in Rust?

Because Cascade is written in the Rust programming language, it is significantly less likely to crash or suffer from memory safety issues. Rust also makes it easier to leverage the higher core count of modern computers through “fearless concurrency”.

See also

Rust Programming Language website

An overview of Rust’s feature set.

Do I need separate database software to run Cascade?

No, the Cascade pipeline runs as a single binary and no additional database software is required. Cascade stores its state in on-disk files in JSON format, by default at various locations under a single parent directory. As such, state is human-readable and easily backed up.

See also

Architecture

An overview of Cascade’s design.

Do I need to use a HSM to run Cascade?

No, Cascade does not require a Hardware Security Module (HSM) to operate. While it is common practice to secure cryptographic key material using an HSM, not all operators use an HSM. Cascade is able to use OpenSSL and/or ring software cryptography to generate signing keys and to cryptographically sign DNS RRset data, storing the generated keys in on-disk files.

See also

Hardware Security Modules (HSMs)

Hardware Security Modules (HSMs).

Installing ang Building

Can I build Cascade with LibreSSL?

No, OpenSSL 3.x is required as these versions fully support Edwards-curve Digital Security Algorithm (EdDSA) keys and signatures using the Ed448 curve (DNSSEC algorithm 16). By contrast, LibreSSL does not yet have support for Ed448.

Ed448 was standardized for use with DNSSEC in February 2017 (RFC 8080) and has been a RECOMMENDED algorithm since June 2019 (RFC 8624).

See also

Install OpenSSL

Installing OpenSSL on common distributions, such as Debian, Ubuntu and Red Hat Enterprise Linux.