Unix BIND and DHCP networks
A typical customer situation:
Many organizations are running the popular ISC BIND and DHCP software on UNIX for DNS and DHCP services. Typically, in such environments, DNS and DHCP is manually updated by editing cryptic text files or by using configuration scripts. Allocation of static IP addresses is also done manually.
This results in:
Inefficient use of costly resources
The best (most expensive) engineers are spending substantial time on routine DNS, DHCP and IP address updates. They are regularly making changes to DNS records, allocating IP addresses to individual departments or users, troubleshooting and struggling to keep up with rapidly changing organizational structures
Long lead times
It takes days or weeks to implement and propagate static DNS changes on the network. There is a complex process for changing DNS records. Typically, a user must fill out a form or send an e-mail to a central authority which then needs to approve the request and finally execute the requested update. These changes then need to be replicated to all DNS servers to be visible across the whole organization
No audit trail
Generally there is no reliable audit trail or history of changes. This means administrators usually have limited – or even nonexistent – means of knowing who performed which modification, at what time, and for what reason. This leads to time-consuming troubleshooting when human errors occur during entry
Limited flexibility when networks change
Administrators typically have limited options for adapting the DNS, DHCP and IP infrastructure to organizational changes, such as new organizational structures, acquisitions and divestments. Organizations need solutions which make it easy to implement mass-updates to hundreds or thousands of IP addresses and DNS/DHCP records across multiple servers and geographies
Cumbersome manual processes
IP addresses are managed manually often using a spreadsheet as a log book to track allocated address ranges and static DNS records. This results in duplicated IP addresses, inefficient use of the IP space, and inconsistencies regarding what is actually live on the network
Errors and vulnerabilities
As a consequence of using manual processes, companies frequently experience DNS/DHCP/AD configuration errors and vulnerabilities (e.g. DNS delegation problems, missing PTR records, incorrect SRV records) that result in lost user productivity. Without the proper tools, such errors are difficult to detect and resolve
The Men & Mice Suite was designed to solve such problems as listed here above.
The benefits of deploying the Men & Mice Suite in a ISC BIND and DCHP environment:
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Retain the reliability and robustness while eliminating the complexity of BIND and DHCP using sophisticated, easy-to-use administration interfaces that offer comprehensive error and consistency checks at entry time. Works with existing BIND and ISC DHCP servers. Supports any valid BIND configuration and most valid DHCP configurations.
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Free technical resources by delegating daily operations to different parts of the organization without giving up central overview and control. This saves money and speeds up the DNS, DHCP and IP Address update process.
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Enable organizational units or geographies to administer their own DNS, DHCP and IP address space professionally and cost efficiently. This eliminates lead times for static DNS changes.
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Instantly react to organizational changes by changing hundreds or thousands of DNS records, DHCP options or IP addresses by invoking mass updates with a click of a button.
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Eliminate connection problems and look-up failures caused by DNS errors by leveraging proactive DNS configuration analyzing and monitoring tools.