What is our primary use case?
For the most part, we rely on DNS with Infoblox NIOS, and lately, we also use IPAM, but we are not using DHCP; only DNS and IPAM.
We had a project involving the deployment of authoritative DNS with Infoblox NIOS, where we had a grid deployed on-premises with different Infoblox NIOS appliances, one for grid management, one for reporting, and one for handling different DNS zones. We have a DNS zone configured with security and also utilize BloxOne tools and Threat Defense to protect against DNS attacks. Recently, we purchased appliances for IPAM for IP address management to get more visibility on our IP information.
It is mainly about hosting our DNS zone with Infoblox NIOS, creating A records, PTR records, and blocking some malicious domains, which is the main use case we are doing.
What is most valuable?
The best experience with Infoblox NIOS is that it is very reliable, and also the support team and the professional services team are very talented people. Working with those engineers is very good, and I learn a lot about the products. The main thing that I appreciate is their people working with them; they are very good at their work.
The change that we clearly see with Infoblox NIOS is due to the reporting. We have a dedicated reporting server, allowing us to clearly see the malicious domains that have been blocked and the kind of DNS traffic we have, granting us great visibility to show whatever we want on the dashboard without any issues.
We had an impact from improved visibility and reporting with Infoblox NIOS, as we had a lot of requests to block some malicious websites and domains due to compliance demands, making it user-friendly and easy to perform those tasks.
What needs improvement?
For the features of Infoblox NIOS, one difficult aspect we encountered is related to load balancing configuration. For example, if we need to create a DNS A record that has two public IPs for one name, load balancing is essential, not only for balancing but also for monitoring the state of those IP addresses to know when one IP address is not available and should be removed from the DNS resolution, and to re-add it when it becomes available again. This kind of monitoring is required, not only resolving but also monitoring the A record information.
The missing point I can see in Infoblox NIOS is the load balancing functionalities, where for a DNS A record that has two IP addresses, we need the possibility to monitor those IP addresses to see if one goes down, to be able to remove it from DNS resolution and show only the available one, focusing on endpoint monitoring.
Load balancing and endpoint monitoring is my main concern.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Infoblox NIOS since February 2022, so now three years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
In my environment, Infoblox NIOS is a very reliable product; we did not face any issues with the product while performing any tasks, and I think the features that are in Infoblox NIOS are all satisfactory in my thoughts.
Infoblox NIOS is very stable in our environment, with no unexpected downtime.
We did not notice any latency issues or bottlenecks with Infoblox NIOS; everything was good.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Infoblox NIOS's scalability is excellent for our organization; they are flexible to align with our growth, allowing adjustments based on traffic growth and guiding us on better appliance choices with great offers for replacements, resulting in no issues.
How are customer service and support?
The customer support for Infoblox NIOS is very helpful; if we create a ticket, we receive feedback within two hours, and they often send a meeting link to resolve the problem as quickly as possible.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
Previously, I do not know which solution we used for DNS because when I arrived, it was already Infoblox NIOS that was in place.
How was the initial setup?
Handling upgrades and maintenance for Infoblox NIOS is generally a smooth process; the upgrade is smooth because of the MOP provided by the support team, allowing us to run the upgrade process without finding anything negative.
What about the implementation team?
It was integrated with the help of professional services with Infoblox NIOS.
What was our ROI?
I think the cost can be justified because it drastically reduced our incidents; we did not have any DNS-related incidents in three years supporting the traffic flow for about 10 million people, being part of a big network infrastructure as an ISP company in our country, so having no incidents in those three years is a strong metric.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
My experience with the pricing, setup cost, and licensing for Infoblox NIOS was good, but it is very, very expensive compared to other DNS infrastructure vendors, which is the main feedback we had from our hierarchy, stating that the high price is justified by the quality of Infoblox NIOS devices.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
My team evaluated other options before choosing Infoblox NIOS, including EfficientIP.
What other advice do I have?
Infoblox NIOS is deployed on-premises in our organization.
For the learning curve with Infoblox NIOS, this could be a drawback; I think the website is very difficult to get information from, but we attended helpful training and regularly work with the support team and professional services, which helped us master Infoblox NIOS functionalities.
Unfortunately, we did not use automation features with Infoblox NIOS.
I would advise others to look into using Infoblox NIOS. I would rate my overall experience with this product as nine out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises