Infoblox Expands Virtualized Solution Offerings

SANTA CLARA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Infoblox Inc. today announced it has expanded its portfolio of solutions for virtualised network environments with Infoblox IPAM for Virtualization, an advanced IP address management (IPAM) solution specifically designed to track IP addresses assigned to virtual machines. Additionally, Infoblox announced the availability of Infoblox vNIOS for VMware, the company's operating system optimised for VMware, which allows deployment of a virtualised instance of an Infoblox appliance. This solution, in conjunction with Infoblox physical appliances in a datacenter, is ideal for enterprise branch offices, where footprint, power and other resources are often limited.

As enterprises strive to take advantage of the flexibility, power, footprint, and cost-reduction advantages associated with virtualization, they are encountering network visibility and scale challenges requiring advanced core network services, including domain name resolution (DNS), IP address assignment (DHCP) and especially IPAM. Spreadsheets and manual processes for tracking IP addresses cannot scale in a dynamic virtual environment. There are significantly higher rates of change and activity in a virtualized environment where virtual instances of servers and machines are dynamically deployed, "spun" up and down.

The bottom line is that investments in virtualization cannot fully pay off without corresponding investments in a more flexible, automated network with visibility for both the physical and virtual environments. Infoblox IPAM for Virtualization extends Infoblox's industry leading IPAM platform to include support for managing IP space and providing visibility into IP addresses assigned to "devices" in a virtual environment. With Infoblox IPAM for Virtualisation organisations can:
    * Discover virtual endpoints and their relationship to the physical network; for example, which physical host currently runs a specific virtual machine - important information for effectively troubleshooting network issues.
    * Enable virtualisation teams to manage their own IP space without relying on or affecting the other teams.
    * Enable networking and server teams to get visibility into IP space usage in virtualised environments.
The Infoblox IPAM for Virtualisation solution uses an agent-less architecture to perform virtual endpoint discovery in a VMware environment. The discovery process finds and populates the IPAM database with information about all virtual endpoints present in the environment, including IP and MAC address, domain name, virtual entity type, entity name, virtual host, cluster, datacenter, virtual switch, and virtual host adapter.

Standard Infoblox IPAM features, including the IP Map, Smart Folders and more, support the virtualization environment. For example, Smart Folders are automatically populated when new virtual endpoints are discovered and modified when virtual machines migrate, providing instant reporting of a dynamic virtual infrastructure. This data can be viewed and manipulated in the same Infoblox GUI for central visibility and control of both virtual and physical network environments.

Infoblox vNIOS for VMware is a highly automated and resilient DNS, DHCP and IP address management (DDI) solution that brings the advantages of Infoblox NIOS appliances and virtualization together. Infoblox vNIOS for VMware adds to the comprehensive portfolio of existing Infoblox NIOS hardware and virtual appliances to allow customers to choose the right solution for their environment. Infoblox vNIOS for VMware Virtual Appliance is a full-featured software instance of the Infoblox DDI appliance that can be deployed on VMware ESX/ESXi servers. The vNIOS Virtual Appliance includes a full suite of core network services, including DNS, DHCP, IPAM, FTP, TFTP, and HTTP.In addition to providing an easy alternative to deploying hardware appliances at the branch office for providing highly available DNS and DHCP services, Infoblox vNIOS for VMware provides benefits including:
    * Reduced power and footprint by minimizing the number of physical servers and appliances
    * Lower expenses by reducing hardware, cooling and real-estate costs
    * Increased resilience and availability of VMware environments
Steve Nye, Infoblox Vice president of Product Strategy at Infoblox, commented, "Enterprises are poised to take advantage of significant benefits from virtualized environments; however, some more advanced network services, such as automated IPAM instead of spreadsheets, are required to realize all the advantages. Infoblox is poised to help provide the visibility and automation necessary to broadly expand virtual environments from pilots to large-scale production deployments."