SANTA CLARA, CA--(Marketwire - February 23, 2009) - Pioneering the next-generation approach to
IP address management (IPAM) for the enterprise, Infoblox Inc. today
announced availability of several new groundbreaking IP address management
tools, including the new Infoblox IP Address Manager module, an intuitive
graphical user interface that consolidates and automates layers of manual
tasks, saving time, reducing errors and lowering costs.
Many enterprises today continue to leverage manual processes and primitive
tools like spreadsheets to allocate IP addresses and record and track the
many variables associated with each IP device. IP space and devices are
critical assets, and -- as with any other corporate asset -- the
information regarding them must be accurate, consistent and available in
order to maintain a functioning network. The penalties for inefficient
processes and tools can include increased downtime and troubleshooting
costs as inevitable provisioning mistakes occur, which, in turn, can result
in increasingly stressed IT staffs that are being asked to do more with the
same or fewer resources.
Further, a recent survey of over 200 enterprises revealed that
organizations incur increasing costs per IP device as each new device is
added -- and yet these costs are often hidden and difficult to control
because they're distributed among different teams including the network
team, server team, and help desk. With the ever increasing number of new
devices being added to enterprise networks, these challenges are
escalating, consuming an increasing portion of limited IT budgets.
Further, the rapid spread of virtualization is bringing the same type of
dynamism to the data center that mobility has brought to endpoints. These
changes demand that a new level of automation be brought to the management
of IP networks.
"With the right IPAM tools, enterprises today can achieve new levels of
automation, reducing administrative cycles and realizing dramatic cost
savings," commented Richard Kagan, vice president of Marketing at Infoblox.
"Now a tool is available that leapfrogs the limited alternatives of the
past: the new Infoblox IP Address Manager module that essentially does for
IP address management what iTunes® did for managing music."
New IP Address Manager Module Provides New Levels of Ease and Automation
The browser-based, task-optimized Infoblox IP Address Manager interface
offers a new IPAM model for both expert and novice users. The interface
works "out of the box" but is easily customized for each type of
administrator -- from architects and super-users to administrators and
help-desk personnel -- to meet unique work processes and needs. It also is
designed "bottom-up" for increased usability based on extensive end-user
interviews and workflow monitoring, enabling quick, error-free data entry
and extensive data accessibility.
Each administrator has a customized dashboard made up of pre-defined
widgets that allow monitoring and management of only those objects for
which they have permission. The role-based management extends throughout
the system and applies to all commands and data. In addition, each user
can create their own set of bookmarks and smart folders to enable them to
quickly navigate and manage the operations and data that are within their
scope of control.
And, patent-pending visualization tools greatly simplify the allocation and
monitoring of large address spaces. These tools allow administrators to
quickly identify where they have used and unused network space, where they
are running low on IP address space and the composition of specific
networks (managed and unmanaged IPs, lease utilization, etc.). This data
can be quickly viewed via the patent-pending Network Map, the IP Map and
dashboard widgets.
Finally, the new task-optimized IP Address Manager module allows users to
quickly and efficiently enter data, with extensive error checking and
prevention. The dashboard has a "Task Manager" widget that has quick links
to wizards for common tasks, such as adding fixed addresses, adding hosts,
and more. Each user can configure which links are in their Task Manager.
Wizard-driven data entry saves time, reduces effort and decreases errors.
New Features Take IPAM into the 21st Century
Many new IPAM features that increase efficiency and visibility can be
accessed via the new interface; these include:
-- Smart Folders: users can store specific data filters and get
dynamically-updated, real-time results; for example, similar to creating a
dynamic playlist on iTunes, a user can create a Smart Folder for "all
networks in California that are not disabled and group by VLAN" -- if a new
network is created that matches the criteria, it will be in the Smart
Folder results, giving administrators a comprehensive view of the network.
-- Network Map: users can quickly visualize large blocks of network
address space providing key information about the composition and usage of
IP addresses within large networks; this facilitates quick and easy network
allocation decisions.
-- IPv6 features: extending the current IPv6 DNS features like adding AAAA
records, users can now configure dual-stack host objects that assist in
IPv4-to-IPv6 transitions, perform IPv6 network allocation and use IPAM
fields to track IPv6 networks, and split/join operations.
Pricing and Availability
The new IP address manager GUI and IPAM features are now available in
Infoblox NIOS software version 4.3r3. Pricing for the solution on the
Infoblox-250 appliance starts at $2,495 in the U.S. Software upgrades are
available free of charge for all current customers with a valid maintenance
contract.
For more information about Infoblox products, visit:
http://www.infoblox.com/products/.
About Infoblox
Infoblox delivers highly reliable and manageable platforms for core network
services like domain name resolution (DNS), IP address assignment (DHCP),
IP address management (IPAM) and more. Infoblox solutions -- essential for
the move from static networks to dynamic infrastructure and applications --
are used by over 2,700 organizations worldwide, including over 100 of the
Fortune 500. The company is headquartered in Santa Clara, Calif., and
operates in more than 30 countries.
Contact Information: Media Contacts:
Jennifer Jasper
Infoblox
408.625.4309