Netrics A.G.

Netrics A.G. in Basel, Switzerland is a network solutions provider that offers cloud transformation, communication, networks, and data centers for its business customers. The fourth-largest internet and telephony provider in Switzerland, it aims to service clients at any time and any place by combining cloud services with its own infrastructure.

When the Netrics Group reorganised its business units to specialise its service offerings, Netrics A.G. was merged with another company specialised in Cloud Services.

DNS skills lost in merger

However, the transition meant Netrics needed to build its own secure DNS network for its 500 strong customer base. DNS management had previously been performed by a department of BIND-skilled operators but the reorganisation meant those in-house skills were lost.

Netrics did not have the technical skill-set needed for daily hands-on configuration of a Linux BIND-based system, known for being labour-intensive and complicated. “Editing DNS records involves inefficient workflows and lots of detailed repetition, errors are easy to make,” says DNSBOX Product Manager Magdalena Jovanovic.

Factoring in the operational costs of spending too much time handling downtime issues, Technical Manager Thierry Prudat instead looked for a DNS management solution that would take on the hard work for him and his team.

Best solution at best value

Deciding an appliance-based solution would be ideal, he researched the web for a user-friendly, affordable, recursive, and authoritative DNS solution. Ideally, Netrics needed a highly secure, robust, scalable appliance that also provided visibility of the network. DNSBOX fitted the bill.

DNSBOX’s modular approach matched Netrics’ requirements perfectly. For less than the cost of a non-redundant solution from Infoblox, Thierry deployed a DNSBOX400 master for authoritative DNS and IPAM and two DNSBOX220 slaves. Running both authoritative and recursive services in a sandboxed environment on one physical unit keeps security high and costs low.

Simple, error-free DDI

Thanks to a single intuitive user interface, DNSBOX simplifies centralised DDI management. Thierry and his team can now manage and update hundreds of customer records at once. Tasks that would take many steps in BIND are automated and validated, which makes editing DNS data much easier than editing configuration files directly. It also saves time and helps prevent mistakes in configuration, reducing the chance of errors.

Changes to appliance configuration can now be confidently handled by any member of the team, enabling wider delegation and increased support across Netrics’ 24/7 customer support service.

Visibility

With all data synchronised automatically and held in a single centralised system, Thierry has gained the visibility he and his team need. Multiple users can easily view what changes were made and by whom, making it much easier to see and understand what is happening across the network. In-depth logging per server ensures data is readily available for audit, so all issues or threats can be quickly identified and resolved.

Fully supported solution

Kept up to date by regular firmware releases as well as rapid-release updates that respond to new security vulnerabilities, Netrics is confident its core services are well-protected by DNSBOX.

Thierry has found the ApplianSys team very responsive, “Everything is going well,” he says. “Support is very reactive and helpful.”

Since deployment, a further two companies have merged with Netrics, increasing DNS requests, but Thierry is happy DNSBOX is handling it with ease, “We are more than satisfied with the stability and performance of the DNSBOX appliances.”

 Download Netrics A.G.’ case study (478KB)