diff --git a/akka-actor/src/main/resources/reference.conf b/akka-actor/src/main/resources/reference.conf
index 074e0922d2b..1b167aa9d20 100644
--- a/akka-actor/src/main/resources/reference.conf
+++ b/akka-actor/src/main/resources/reference.conf
@@ -316,6 +316,9 @@ akka {
         router = "consistent-hashing-pool"
         nr-of-instances = 4
       }
+      "/IO-DNS/inet-address/*" {
+        dispatcher = "akka.actor.default-blocking-io-dispatcher"
+      }
     }
 
     default-dispatcher {
@@ -438,6 +441,16 @@ akka {
       mailbox-requirement = ""
     }
 
+    default-blocking-io-dispatcher {
+      type = "Dispatcher"
+      executor = "thread-pool-executor"
+      throughput = 1
+
+      thread-pool-executor {
+        fixed-pool-size = 16
+      }
+    }
+
     default-mailbox {
       # FQCN of the MailboxType. The Class of the FQCN must have a public
       # constructor with
@@ -768,7 +781,7 @@ akka {
 
       # Fully qualified config path which holds the dispatcher configuration
       # on which file IO tasks are scheduled
-      file-io-dispatcher = "akka.actor.default-dispatcher"
+      file-io-dispatcher = "akka.actor.default-blocking-io-dispatcher"
 
       # The maximum number of bytes (or "unlimited") to transfer in one batch
       # when using `WriteFile` command which uses `FileChannel.transferTo` to
@@ -918,9 +931,14 @@ akka {
         # Must implement akka.io.DnsProvider
         provider-object = "akka.io.InetAddressDnsProvider"
 
-        # These TTLs are set to default java 6 values
-        positive-ttl = 30s
-        negative-ttl = 10s
+        # To set the time to cache name resolutions
+        # Possible values:
+        # default: sun.net.InetAddressCachePolicy.get() and getNegative()
+        # forever: cache forever
+        # never: no caching
+        # n [time unit]: positive timeout with unit, for example "30 s"
+        positive-ttl = default
+        negative-ttl = default
 
         # How often to sweep out expired cache entries.
         # Note that this interval has nothing to do with TTLs
diff --git a/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/io/Dns.scala b/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/io/Dns.scala
index 1c7d0c67f7a..7c15a9a383b 100644
--- a/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/io/Dns.scala
+++ b/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/io/Dns.scala
@@ -83,7 +83,7 @@ class DnsExt(system: ExtendedActorSystem) extends IO.Extension {
 
   val manager: ActorRef = {
     system.systemActorOf(
-      props = Props(classOf[SimpleDnsManager], this).withDeploy(Deploy.local).withDispatcher(Settings.Dispatcher),
+      props = Props(provider.managerClass, this).withDeploy(Deploy.local).withDispatcher(Settings.Dispatcher),
       name = "IO-DNS")
   }
 
diff --git a/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/io/InetAddressDnsResolver.scala b/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/io/InetAddressDnsResolver.scala
index a288b56b0aa..0a04cb98435 100644
--- a/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/io/InetAddressDnsResolver.scala
+++ b/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/io/InetAddressDnsResolver.scala
@@ -7,10 +7,28 @@ import akka.actor.Actor
 import com.typesafe.config.Config
 
 import scala.collection.immutable
+import sun.net.{ InetAddressCachePolicy ⇒ IACP }
+import akka.util.Helpers.Requiring
 
 class InetAddressDnsResolver(cache: SimpleDnsCache, config: Config) extends Actor {
-  val positiveTtl = config.getDuration("positive-ttl", TimeUnit.MILLISECONDS)
-  val negativeTtl = config.getDuration("negative-ttl", TimeUnit.MILLISECONDS)
+
+  import IACP.NEVER // 0 constant
+
+  private def getTtl(path: String, positive: Boolean): Long =
+    config.getString(path) match {
+      case "default" ⇒
+        (if (positive) IACP.get else IACP.getNegative) match {
+          case NEVER      ⇒ NEVER
+          case n if n > 0 ⇒ TimeUnit.SECONDS.toMillis(n)
+          case _          ⇒ Long.MaxValue // forever if negative
+        }
+      case "forever" ⇒ Long.MaxValue
+      case "never"   ⇒ NEVER
+      case _ ⇒ config.getDuration(path, TimeUnit.MILLISECONDS)
+        .requiring(_ > 0, s"akka.io.dns.$path must be 'default', 'forever', 'never' or positive duration")
+    }
+  val positiveTtl = getTtl("positive-ttl", true)
+  val negativeTtl = getTtl("negative-ttl", false)
 
   override def receive = {
     case Dns.Resolve(name) ⇒
@@ -19,12 +37,12 @@ class InetAddressDnsResolver(cache: SimpleDnsCache, config: Config) extends Acto
         case None ⇒
           try {
             val answer = Dns.Resolved(name, InetAddress.getAllByName(name))
-            cache.put(answer, positiveTtl)
+            if (positiveTtl != NEVER) cache.put(answer, positiveTtl)
             answer
           } catch {
             case e: UnknownHostException ⇒
               val answer = Dns.Resolved(name, immutable.Seq.empty, immutable.Seq.empty)
-              cache.put(answer, negativeTtl)
+              if (negativeTtl != NEVER) cache.put(answer, negativeTtl)
               answer
           }
       }
diff --git a/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/io/SimpleDnsCache.scala b/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/io/SimpleDnsCache.scala
index 9a342d5b4fc..ad5c7ad90de 100644
--- a/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/io/SimpleDnsCache.scala
+++ b/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/io/SimpleDnsCache.scala
@@ -54,7 +54,8 @@ object SimpleDnsCache {
     }
 
     def put(answer: Resolved, ttlMillis: Long): Cache = {
-      val until = clock() + ttlMillis
+      val until0 = clock() + ttlMillis
+      val until = if (until0 < 0) Long.MaxValue else until0
 
       new Cache(
         queue + new ExpiryEntry(answer.name, until),
diff --git a/akka-stream/src/main/resources/reference.conf b/akka-stream/src/main/resources/reference.conf
index 63d1cff5674..9c6696c35a8 100644
--- a/akka-stream/src/main/resources/reference.conf
+++ b/akka-stream/src/main/resources/reference.conf
@@ -84,9 +84,7 @@ akka {
       throughput = 1
 
       thread-pool-executor {
-        core-pool-size-min = 2
-        core-pool-size-factor = 2.0
-        core-pool-size-max = 16
+        fixed-pool-size = 16
       }
     }
   }