Infoblox bolsters enterprise DNS support

A new system from Infoblox promises a maximum DNS throughput of 110,000 queries per second

Network management firm Infoblox has unveiled an addition to its core appliance range aimed at helping service providers deal with accelerating loads on their domain name resolution (DNS) systems.

Infoblox said that, as the use of internet-based services continues to grow and web pages become increasingly complex through the use of technologies such as Flash and embedded links and frames, the load on DNS services increases.

For example, a single web page may require dozens of DNS lookups to gather all of the content used to render the page, while an anti-spam system can generate 10 to 20 DNS lookups for every email message. IP telephony, social networks and many other applications, meanwhile, make extensive use of DNS.

To help meet this demand, Infoblox has produced a dedicated 1U rack mountable unit, the Infoblox-1852, which promises a maximum DNS throughput of 110,000 queries per second, as well as hardware-based high availability, DNS Anycast, automated disaster recovery and hot-swappable redundant power supplies.

"Service providers and large enterprises face a growing challenge as DNS query loads continue to increase," said Richard Kagan, vice president of marketing at Infoblox.

"This is further complicated by ever-present threats, like the Kaminsky vulnerability, that can jeopardise DNS infrastructure security and service availability."

The new system runs the company's standard Nios operating system, and allows IT managers to patch and upgrade without downtime. It also offers centralised management and security monitoring for protection against attacks like DNS cache poisoning.

The Infoblox-1852 appliance platform is available now, starting at $35,995 (£22,565) for the NS1 package which includes DNS, DHCP, IPAM, TFTP/HTTP/FTP and other capabilities.