Inglorious DDI

We all know how critical DHCP/DNS/IPAM (DDI) services are. Your network cannot function without them. But like most foundational elements of anything, they are certainly not glamorous…like good luck finding a home designer who specializes in home foundations. I would not be shocked should HGTV pass on my brilliant concept for a foundation building show. I suppose most people would find a show detailing footing depths and concrete pouring techniques rather boring.

DDI: A Necessary Evil?

Nevertheless, there are countless shows for redesigning and remodeling homes. On most episodes the foundation is out of sight, out of mind. If it’s stable, no one wants to pay it attention, they just expect it to keep doing its job, supporting the structure. Once in a while a foundational issue is brought up that unexpectedly threatens to raise the budget to heighten the drama. All work stops until the issue is addressed. And you’ll notice that the owner never denies paying the extra amount to fix the issue. After all, any foundation issue must be resolved so the threat of compromise to the rest of the house is reduced. As the episode continues, there’s no further mention of the foundation and attention shifts back to the upper floors and the magnificent reveal.

Don’t Ignore Your Network Foundation

Whether on television or real life, it’s inadvisable to ignore foundational issues. If your foundation fails, your beautiful remodel can come crashing down. Like the foundation of your house, DDI is the foundation of your network. To even access your network, a device requires a unique IP address; to access network resources, your users and devices require DNS. But for many, the prospect of managing DDI can evoke similar reactions as those from HGTV regarding my new show proposal. It’s inglorious and often tedious – but – it better be built right!

If your DDI foundation fails to properly map space for your IoT deployments, to automate address assignments across multi-clouds, to add a layer of detection against malware, or to effectively support your many other network initiatives, your progress will be halted in its tracks. All efforts to progress your transformational business initiatives will prove fruitless. So whatever network services you’re developing and managing for your business, make sure you foundation is stable, reliable and scalable to meet your current and future needs. Establishing a strong DDI foundation now will eliminate the need for future expensive foundation repairs.

A Solid DDI Foundation From Cygna Labs

Fortunately, if you’re using the right DDI tool like IPControl from Cygna Labs Diamond IP, you can largely place DDI on auto-pilot. With its rich automation and adaptation capabilities, you can integrate DDI into broader IT workflows. DDI can largely become self-managing. For example, you can monitor network address capacity and automatically allocate more space if needed. While automating common IT tasks involving IP address or DNS assignment can vastly reduce your DDI workload, fully automating every task may be unrealistic. And you may not have the resources to automate as much as you’d like. After all, once automation flows are operational, they still require attention occasionally due to vendor API changes and new features.

Streamline DDI Through Automation and Managed Services

Cygna Labs Diamond IP can help with integrating DDI into your flows with our REST API and Cloud Automation Appliance (CAA). If you’d prefer to use a DDI service, Cygna Labs Diamond IP can help there too! Cygna Labs Diamond IP offers a two-tiered DDI service:

• Our Services Infrastructure Management (SIM) service provides real time monitoring, troubleshooting, patching and upgrading of your deployed multi-vendor DDI infrastructure.
• Our managed IPAM service builds on the SIM service to add the performance of DDI moves, adds and changes within your IPControl systems and deploying DHCP and DNS updates.

Our DDI-as-a-service enables you to focus on the more glamorous aspects of your IT projects. Seek the glory in deploying new applications for growing your business. And with our DDI automation and/or services, you can strive with full confidence that your requisite DDI foundation is rock solid.