Introduction
The Internet has truly revolutionized the modern world. It has brought an amazing online world to our finger tips. Today everyone on the internet has access to a wide array of information. Based on recent statistics not only the number of people using the internet has drastically increased, but also the amount of time that people spend on the internet has also gone up exponentially. This also means that today people are at high risk of getting exposed to online dangers such as disturbing, and even harmful material, that they can easily stumble upon while online.
Internet Service Providers (ISPs)
ISPs play a pivotal role in providing internet services to the end user. They are basically the gateway to the internet and everything else done online. Internet service providers may be organized in various forms, such as commercial entities, community-owned ventures, non-profit organizations, or even privately owned companies.
DNS and ISPs
DNS is an acronym that stands for Domain Name System. DNS is an integral part of how the ISPs works, as it allows users and hosts to utilize more memorable DNS names rather than having to use a website’s IP address to access a website. When a user wants to access a webpage, they enter the address (or DNS name) into their browser’s address bar. This information is then sent in the form of a ‘DNS query’ to their Internet Service Provider’s DNS servers. Every ISP has a database of DNS names with corresponding IP addresses. If a user’s initial query can be answered using this directory, an ‘authoritative’ answer is sent to the user’s computer so that it can connect with the website.
If the ISP directory is unable to answer the initial DNS query authoritatively, then the next step that the DNS query does is to check its cache. A server’s cache holds a record of all other previous queries. If it can answer a user using information from the cache, then it will still answer but with a ‘non-authoritative’ answer. This means that the information that the ISP supplies isn’t directly from the ISP’s directory but rather from a third party.
If the query still can’t be answered through the cache, then the DNS query process will use recursion. This is when the ISP’s DNS survey uses the information that it has on other authoritative servers in its root hint files to contact and get the information that you need. Once an ISP has requested this recursive information, it is sent to a user’s computer where a connection is formed. The ISP server then stores that information in its cache, which can be then accessed for future queries.
Infoblox Subscriber Services for the ISPs
Infoblox Subscriber Services functionality is based on the very fundamentals of how DNS works. Instead of monitoring all packets of information in a proxy-based deployment, Infoblox uses a more efficient and scalable approach to leverage user and traffic information at the DNS layer. ISPs can decide whether to allow a website or block a website based on the DNS layer itself.
DNS-based solutions are ten to one hundred times more scalable than deep packet inspection approaches and are also more flexible and have less demanding deployment options. Infoblox Subscriber Services also improves quality of experience (QoE) because DNS signaling analysis can be focused only on the subscribers using the services, so there is no need to process all the internet traffic like deep packet inspection requires, which hampers end-user experience.
Lastly, Infoblox Subscriber Services functionality protects user data and improves performance by supporting encrypted internet traffic without the need for deep packet inspection decryption methodologies.
Conclusion
Infoblox provides the industry-leading secure DNS platform with extensive value-added Subscriber Services. By consuming subscriber management information, Infoblox associates identity to traffic, enables policy enforcement, and identifies security incidents per subscriber at a granular level for enhanced visibility. Infoblox enables a comprehensive portfolio of Subscriber Services that runs on the industry’s most scalable platform. In this way, Infoblox generates a predictable ROI by leveraging a flexible, pay-as-you-grow model that benefits both the ISP and ISP’s end-user customers.
