Centralization of DNS-DHCP Services Management

Project Overview

The group, a semiconductors solutions specialist, chose to centralize the management of its DNS and DHCP servers in order to get both a global vision and a fine supervision of its worldwide architecture. The solution was chosen based on very pragmatic criteria: provide the possibility to manage every type of DNS vendor, take into account LDAP directories, allow the administration of heterogeneous platforms, and finally, manage everything through a web interface.

Controlling the network (DNS and DHCP servers) controls the business. It is on this basic principle that STMicroelectronics, the fifth largest semiconductors company in the world, centers its commercial strategy. With a worldwide network of strategic alliances, key clients and technological developments, STMicroelectronics started centralizing its different sites, including DNS and DHCP management, and purchased a solution provided by EfficientIP.

“Our objective was to have a centralized management interface for all our DNS and DHCP servers that would allow us to have a clear vision of the subnets we use,” says Thierry Buttard, network architect and head manager of DNS architectures worldwide for STMicroelectronics. The very organization of the company justifies this global vision: with less than 50,000 employees divided into 16 Research & Development units, 39 design and practical application centers, 13 production sites and 78 points of sales spread in 36 countries.

Key Benefits

Transition Process & Main Results

The main benefit of centralizing DNS and DHCP architectures is the ability to control all our networks; especially in a joint venture context with our partners or customers” adds Thierry Buttard, who purchased EfficientIP solutions two years ago in order to manage fifty different sites located in Europe, South America and Asia and thirty five servers. “Previously, DNS and DHCP server management was decentralized and heterogeneous, hence the need for a global project to control the whole system”, continues Thierry Buttard. Now, administration rights are allocated on a local level “but only for basic – level 1 – operations with access restricted to the servers that teams are allowed to manipulate”, insists Thierry Buttard. Level 2 administration is more advanced and allows, for instance, to add new subnets dedicated to DNS and DHCP management.

Centralizing has one benefit: reduce the costs and optimize the resources. Several criteria were taken into account when choosing EfficientIP solution: “To start with, we wanted an IP address management tool that could be used with all types of DNS vendors and simplify the administration of heterogeneous platforms” details Thierry Buttard. Then, “we wanted a tool that could be accessed through a web interface and that could manage Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) authentications”. A proof of concept (POC) was conducted with 3 solutions available on the market. “The first one did not offer the IPAM at that time and was more expensive. The second, close to the one we eventually chose, did not really comply with our needs in terms of LDAP authentication management and the editing company was not present in Europe”, recalls Thierry Buttard. The company will keep on moving its sites, every time, the permanent and comprehensive monitoring and supervision are an asset: “Granular monitoring remains essential while supervision allows us to be alerted any time a DNS or DHCP service is stopped” concludes Thierry Buttard.

Why EfficientIP solution was chosen:

• The management of all types of DNS vendors
• The management of heterogeneous platforms
• A web interface
• The management of LDAP authentications • A local presence of the support team