The Original Three Services
As we turn the page to 2018 it’s a good time reflect on conventional thinking and consider what may have changed. Core network services is one of those things. For years we thought we had it all figured out. You needed IP addresses, so service #1 was DHCP. You needed to provide and get access to web-based services so DNS was service #2. When networks grew the ebb and flow of IP addresses became hard to wrangle so IP Address Management became service #3.
So that was that: DHCP, DNS, and IP Address Management or “DDI” were the core services that enabled access to the network and to services in an orderly fashion. Well yes, but maybe there’s more to the story today.
You have a lot riding on your network and on service access. You ought to know what’s going on in your network. Who is using it? Where are they going? Are you complying with access policies? This list goes on. The old adage “You can’t manage what you can’t see” has more than a grain of truth in it, so reports, dashboards, and analysis are must-have services for many if not most networks today.
Add Reporting and Analytics to the mix
Does your network support web services that are critical to customers or potential customers or employees or partners? If the answer is yes, then you want those website users to have the best experience, and that means the best performance. You can make that possible with global server load balancing, a simple but powerful service to optimize web server usage and performance.
Plus Security
And let’s consider security. DNS is a foundational service but it also happens to be a trouble spot for security (that hackers love) since it can enable an array of network attacks, data exfiltration, and malware. These risks are generally not addressed by firewalls, proxies or endpoint products. So, what do you do? Network-based DNS security protects against a host of problems including domain hijacking, cache poisoning, and DDoS attacks. DNS security is something many networks cannot afford to be without.
There we have it – the new Core Network Services
2018 may be a good time to think beyond DHCP, DNS and IP Address Management. Better management, efficiency, and security can be gained with a modest redefinition of core network services, and position you for success in your business.
