not matched in network management functionality. This is underscored by the astonishing number of organisations that still rely on spreadsheets or simple tools like Active Directory to keep track of increasingly complex network structures. These basic management tools are
cheap and ubiquitous, but can usually only handle multiple domains and subnets by providing coordination outside of those systems. Such coordination is itself often based on manually maintained spreadsheets. Furthermore, in the many organisations that operate both Linux and Windows, some form of manual coordination between the two is also required. Besides the labour cost and the
opportunity for errors, such solutions pose problems for financial institutions subject to strict compliance. Neither BIND nor AD nor manual spreadsheets have built-in history reporting and audit trails. For compliance reporting, these are needed on a regular basis, and involve even more tiresome manual labour.
Automation Solution It is impossible to keep track of a dynamic system using manual procedures and outdated management tools, so an increasing number of organisations are automating the management of core network services such as DNS, DHCP and IP Address Management to cut the risk of human error and meet reporting and compliance needs. The saving is not just in day to day
management of the network, but also when orchestrating major changes. Whether it is a company merger, data centre consolidation or simply a software upgrade, everyone fears that change will entail some sort of disruption, because there is endless scope for human error unless the change is itself automated. Consolidation and virtualisation are
increasingly serious issues for financial systems, where there is such pressure for optimal performance combined with consistency and accountability. In a virtual data centre, administrators must be able to re-provision processing power at a stroke. If this change is
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Common Task
Steps IP Address Provisioning 8 DNS Change IP Address Reclaim Network Provisioning 7 8 9
Manual Time to Result 1-2 Days 2-4 hours 2-4 days 1 week
Comparative times to make simple administrative changes manually and automatically, and the number of steps that could cause error.
not highly automated, the many steps involved in re-provisioning the network infrastructure and its core services such as IP assignment, DNS and DHCP, will demand considerable time and manpower. Industry analyst Jim Frey of
Enterprise Management Associates makes the point: “There is little if any hope for manual processes to keep pace with the rate of change introduced by server virtualisation and cloud services. The only reasonable answer is automation. In this case, network managers could benefit greatly from tighter automation and control around IP address management as an essential aspect of maintaining a highly functional, highly performing network.”
Conclusion Even without the added pressures of virtualisation, the analysts’ statistics are disturbing. Two thirds of all system performance issues are linked to network change, according to Gartner and IDC. Over 70 percent of IT staff time is spent on unplanned work according to a study by Metzler & Associates. Up to 80 percent of all IT resources are consumed simply to maintain the status quo, according to IDC. Without extensive automation, this wasteful situation will continue.
Today’s sophisticated and yet simple
to deploy solutions for network change and configuration management combine powerful automation together with clear visibility into the health, policy and compliance of the network. They can collect and analyse network infrastructure configurations, identify policy violations, show the impact of change on network health and remediate issues. In short, they enable the enterprise to automate core network management and support highly dynamic networks, applications and initiatives. For financial systems this addresses
the three key concerns; speed and reliability of performance, auditing and regulatory compliance, and seamless system consolidation. There is also immediate ROI in terms
of less reliance on specialist IT staff, far fewer repetitive manual tasks and consequently far less risk of outages and system degradation. Automating core IP network services
such as IP address management, DNS and DHCP, and integrating it with automated network change and configuration management on all network devices such as switches, routers and firewalls is the only way to ensure racing car performance and delivery across the financial system.
NETCOMMS europe Volume II Issue 4 2012 33
Automated Infoblox
Time to Result 2 Min
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