An IT hierarchy of needs
In 1943, Abraham Maslow’s paper “A Theory of Human Motivation” first introduced a hierarchy of human psychological needs. In Maslow’s concept (often illustrated as a pyramid), everyone’s psychological needs are built from the ground up. At the bottom of the hierarchy are concrete, fundamental elements of our psyche – things we require for survival. More abstract, higher-level elements of our personality are built on this foundation.
If you think about it, Maslow’s concept fits very well in the world of IT. At a basic level, IT administrators focus on keeping systems up and running – core infrastructure is the foundation of every network. Once that foundation is properly built, it can support higher level functions such as analytics and DevOps. Artificial intelligence, machine learning, and other complex innovations are then built on those data sources.
Unfortunately, many technology executives focus on the top of the IT pyramid while ignoring its foundations. Everyone wants to say that they’re innovative. We all want to show how we’re using the latest, most advanced tools. Business transformation is everyone’s end goal.
The reality, however, is that most of today’s networks lack the basic foundation to support higher-level functionality. Without the right core elements and architectures in place, any attempt to build the latest and greatest will ultimately fail.
The Domain Name System (DNS) is one of those core network services that tends to get overlooked. That’s unfortunate, because DNS holds the key to so many higher level functions and business transformation initiatives.
Take automation as an example. When a DevOps team is producing applications on an agile cycle, it can’t sit around while the help desk configures IP space. When DNS relies on a decentralised foundation of Microsoft, BIND, and homegrown architectures, it can’t respond in a timely or efficient manner. Human-speed DNS gums up the works for everything that sits above it, making automation and all of that higher-level functionality impossible or impractical.
Cloud is another technology which requires a solid DNS foundation. Maybe you’re juggling assets and compute between multiple clouds. Maybe you’re working between cloud and on-prem environments. Maybe you’re just migrating to the cloud. In all of these situations, something has to be the traffic cop. Trying to manage DNS separately in each environment is inefficient, and greatly increases the possibility of cascading errors which can bring down the entire network.
There are many other examples. Network security, virtualisation, SD-WAN – so many of today’s future-facing initiatives rely on a solid foundation in DNS. Without it, they can very easily falter.
What can network administrators do to get their DNS in shape? Here are a few salient points to consider:
- Centralise. Establishing a single point of truth is essential for any DNS modernisation effort. Eliminating the work-arounds and home grown architectures of decentralised DNS goes a long way toward building the stable, reliable DNS that powers higher-level functionality.
- Automate. Help desk support for DNS isn’t scalable. Automating standard provisioning and management tasks creates a responsive DNS that works at the speed of DevOps.
- Reduce complexity. Building pathways for DNS queries through a jungle of clouds and data centers can be time-intensive and hard to manage. Intelligent DNS tools create a streamlined, elegant architecture that also helps with compliance.
So what do you call this solution which centralises, automates, and rationalises your DNS architecture to create the foundation for all of your IT initiatives? We call it Enterprise DNS – a platform which enables a wide range of business transformation efforts by laying a solid foundation in your network’s core infrastructure.
BlueCat customers use over ten thousand DNS service points, which manage over 100 million IP addresses and process ten billion DNS queries every day. Learn more about how Enterprise DNS powers the full range of IT initiatives.
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