DNS Management Module

Enterprise DNS Management solution for Microsoft DNS and BIND based environments

The Men & Mice DNS Management module provides a professional management system on top of standard nameservers such as Microsoft DNS for the Windows platform and BIND 8/9 on Unix and Linux.

The DNS Management module is built to meet the management challenges faced by organizations with distributed DNS operations.

Centralized control is one of the key benefits of the Men & Mice DNS Management module. It provides a powerful, feature rich management console which interacts, via a central server, with existing standard DNS servers. This natural approach allows organizations to hold on to their investments and leverage existing infrastructure.

The Men & Mice DNS Management module allows organizations to:

• Keep their investment by leveraging existing skills and DNS servers.

• Minimize DNS look-up failures.

• Reduce the number of helpdesk calls by utilizing tightened security and intelligent user-interfaces to help prevent configuration errors.

• Increase up-time of critical network services such as Active Directory, web servers, e-mail and other network services.

• Increased efficiency through elimination of duplicate efforts, freeing up expensive resources and reducing support cost.

• Achieve regulatory compliance through logging of all activities and changes in real time.

The DNS Management module provides a scaleable and adaptable platform that can accommodate any DNS management requirements. It is fully integrated with the Men & Mice Suite's DHCP and IP address management modules, enabling the operation of DNS, DHCP and IP address configuration as a managed unified whole.

• Non-intrusive, easy deployment. No migration or redesign required. Works with the existing DNS servers and data, no extra investment in hardware appliances. Simple installation and setup.

• Sophisticated management interfaces. The Management console is a sophisticated Windows GUI application that provides an efficient interface for managing any number of DNS servers. Powerful command line interfaces are also provided.

• Unified overview of the whole DNS infrastructure. This entails significant benefits for organizations which have multiple DNS servers and zones, not to mention organizations which have hybrid DNS setup, i.e. mix of BIND and Microsoft DNS servers.

• Role-based, fine-grained access control. Administrators can create user profiles and grant users access to different parts of the namespace. Access levels can vary from “read-only” up to “full access”, i.e. rights to create and edit zones. This allows safe, distributed DNS operations by delegating administration to multiple operators.

• State of the art mission-based web interface. Junior administrators and helpdesk personel receive a "fool-proof" one page, web browser interface, customized for the task at hand (e.g. adding a new host).

• Powerful input validation and error checking. By default, all user input is checked for possible errors and consistency. It is also possible to define custom validation checks which better capture workflow processes.

• Mass updates. The Search & Update Wizard can be used to make multiple updates across servers and zones in one operation. The available actions are: Find and Replace, Find and Create, Find and Delete, and Find and Edit. For example, it is possible to find and delete all CNAMES pointing to a given A-record, or to move all A-records from one IP address block to another.

• Auditing. All changes are logged down to an object or a user. The system can be set to query for a “Save Comment” on all updates which can be used to save a work ticket number or any other reference.

• Automation. For example, reverse records are automatically added and deleted when forward zones are updated.

• Support for Dynamic DNS (DDNS) updates both for BIND and Microsoft DNS

• IPv6 support The DNS module handles IPv6 addresses with the same ease and in the same interface as IPv4.

• SOAP interface The SOAP interface enables access to and from external applications or scripts using industry standard protocols

• Scheduling Scripts can be run at any predetermined time to perform routine tasks and backup

• DNSSEC The DNS module can be used to view and manage DNSSEC enabled zones.

• Promote zone If a master zone becomes unavailable, any slave zone can be turned into a master zone with a few mouse clicks.

• Full integration with Microsoft Active Directory. The DNS Management module works with Active Directory integrated DNS zones and can also authenticate users against Active Directory.

• Integration with IP Address Management. When the Men & Mice IP Address Management module is enabled, the creation, deletion and configuration of DNS data zones and records are automatically synchronized with other IP address related data.

• Integration with DHCP Management. Enabling the Men & Mice DHCP Management module further results in added benefits. Administrators can easily view device associations, both in DHCP and DNS. Changing information in DNS view (e.g. an IP address) will automatically change the corresponding information in DHCP, and vice versa.

The Men & Mice DNS Management module is one of four application modules which comprise the Men & Mice Suite. The other three modules are:

• DHCP Management Module
• IP Address Management Module
• Analyzing and Monitoring

The DNS module can be deployed independently of other modules of the Men & Mice Suite.