BlueCat integrates with Cisco ACI to deliver enhanced visibility and centralized management
Built with BlueCat’s API and DNS automation platform, the integration allows for discovering and configuring endpoints discovered by Cisco ACI.
Key takeawaysThis key takeaway was generated through LLMs crawling the page and coming up with an overview of the content.Enterprises are shifting from physical data centers to software-defined and cloud environments, moving compute to the edge to improve manageability, agility, and asset optimization. This trend increases network segmentation and places new demands on DNS deployment; BlueCat is collaborating with Cisco ACI to integrate Cisco’s SDN endpoint discovery with BlueCat Address Manager so DNS, DHCP, and IPAM data are automatically discovered and configured. The integration, previewed at Cisco Live 2018 and planned for release via BlueCat’s GitHub later in the year, delivers centralized visibility and a “single pane of glass” management approach for joint customers, aligning BlueCat DNS Integrity with Cisco ACI’s automation and programmability benefits.
What problem does the BlueCat and Cisco ACI integration aim to solve for enterprise IT teams?
The integration addresses the growing operational challenge of managing highly segmented, software-defined networks as enterprises migrate compute to the edge and adopt cloud and virtual services. By using Cisco ACI’s endpoint discovery and feeding that information into BlueCat Address Manager via BlueCat’s API and DNS automation platform, the solution automates discovery and configuration of DNS, DHCP, and IPAM records. This reduces manual work, improves visibility across virtual and physical workloads, and enables faster service delivery through a centralized, policy-driven management layer.
How does the integration leverage BlueCat and Cisco technologies to provide value?
The integration combines Cisco ACI’s capabilities for application agility, data center automation, and discovery of virtual and physical endpoints with BlueCat DNS Integrity’s automated, policy-driven DNS, DHCP, and IPAM services. BlueCat uses its API and DNS automation platform to consume endpoint data discovered by Cisco ACI and populate BlueCat Address Manager, delivering consistent, centrally managed DNS records and IPAM data. The result is a unified management experience—described as a “single pane of glass”—that aligns BlueCat’s adaptive DNS approach with the programmability and visibility Cisco ACI provides.
When and how will customers be able to access this integration?
An early version of the integration was showcased at Cisco Live 2018, and BlueCat announced that the integration will be released later in the year. The company plans to make the integration available on BlueCat’s GitHub repository for customers to access and implement. Customers could also learn more and see demonstrations at BlueCat’s Cisco Live booth (#1919) during the event, with the final integration intended to enhance the BlueCat management layer to align with Cisco ACI benefits.
It’s a brave, new world for the enterprise CIO. The days of the massive physical data center, managed by few and slow to evolve, are disappearing. As hardened appliances virtualize or move to the cloud, business value has shifted from systems to applications to the data itself.
For the enterprise, the mass migration of compute from the network core to the edge has unlocked vast new opportunities. In particular, for IT to speed service delivery. The infrastructure and applications of IT organizations are evolving, with deployments leveraging software and cloud services wherever possible. Organizations are starting to migrate their IT infrastructure to a software-defined model. The need for improved manageability, enhanced agility, and optimized asset usage is driving this trend. IT organizations are segmenting networks like never before, in turn putting pressure on how DNS is deployed. Meeting those demands with a future-first approach to infrastructure is the smartest decision you can make.
As the industry leader in software-defined networking (SDN), Cisco ACI enables application agility and data center automation, and the integration of virtual and physical workloads in highly agile, programmable fabric. BlueCat DNS Integrity delivers core DNS, DHCP, and IPAM services without compromise. Plus, it is built on those same qualities: automated, policy-driven, relentlessly flexible and scalable.
So we are very excited to announce our collaboration with Cisco ACI, and really, it makes perfect sense.
This week at Cisco Live 2018, we will showcase an early version of an integration to be released later this year.
Built with BlueCat’s API and DNS automation platform, our customers are able to discover and configure endpoints discovered by Cisco ACI. Then the data will feed into BlueCat Address Manager. This new capability allows us to provide the same level of extensive visibility that Cisco’s SDN solution already offers. BlueCat users have long benefited from our approach to Adaptive DNS via a central visibility and management approach. Now we’re proud to integrate with Cisco ACI to deliver a “single pane of glass” approach to our joint customers.
To see what we’re showing at Cisco Live 2018, watch the following video:
Swing by booth #1919 at Cisco Live Orlando to talk to us and learn more about the solution!
The integration will be available on BlueCat’s GitHub repository later this year for all customers to access and implement. With a tighter connection between Cisco’s SDN solution and BlueCat DNS Integrity, our customers benefit from a more integrated solution set. The integration enhances their BlueCat management layer to align with the benefits that Cisco ACI brings.
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BlueCat provides core services and solutions that help our customers and their teams deliver change-ready networks. With BlueCat, organizations can build reliable, secure, and agile mission-critical networks that can support transformation initiatives such as cloud adoption and automation. BlueCat’s growing portfolio includes services and solutions for automated and unified DDI management, network security, multicloud management, and network observability and health.
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