Infoblox IB-MAIN-550-NSS-21 warranty/support extension

The Infoblox-550-A network services appliance is designed to serve small to medium enterprises and regional branch-office applications. The Infoblox-550 can be deployed stand alone, as a Grid member or as a Grid master for smaller Grids.

NS1 Package

The NS1 package delivers reliable, manageable, scalable, and secure core network services at a lower cost and with higher security than server-software and with greater network availability than any other solution. The services included in the NS1 package include:

- Naming services via Domain Name System (DNS/DNSSEC);
- Addressing services via Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP);
- Network visibility and control via IP address management (IPAM);
- File delivery services via Trivial File Transfer Protocol and other services (FTP, HTTP, TFTP);
- Time synchronization services via Network Time Protocol (NTP).

High-availability Services
The NS1 package runs on the reliable Infoblox appliance platforms, which are designed for nonstop operation in high-performance networks. High-availability (HA) services are supported by bloxHA™ technology—which uses industry-standard Virtual Router Redundancy Protocol (VRRP) for sub 5-second network failover—and bloxSYNC™ technology to ensure real-time database synchronization with no loss or duplication of data. Together, these two technologies allow critical name server and DHCP services to always remain responsive and up-to-date and eliminate common but challenging problems such as issuing duplicate IP addresses

Integrated, Zero-admin Database
The NS1 package stores all DNS and DHCP data in the integrated bloxSDB™ database, which is built into the Infoblox NIOS™ operating system software provided on all Infoblox appliances. The bloxSDB database is designed specifically to support integrated core network services and provides unmatched consistency between service and management views of IP-address-centric network services data without compromising performance..

Integrated Web GUI
The Infoblox Web GUI allows administrators to deploy and manage the entire DNS/DNSSEC, DHCP and IPAM infrastructure with just a few mouse clicks. The powerful, Web-based Infoblox GUI is the only solution that manages all aspects of the infrastructure and data – including software updates and upgrades, backup and restore, disaster recovery and all services and data management – without resorting to client based or command-line interfaces. The Infoblox Web UI manages all aspects of the product including DNS/DNSSEC, DHCP, IPAM and Grid management, monitoring and reporting. Wizards and visual tools are available to make configuration and monitoring error-free.

Integrated Management
The NS1 package provides practical operational efficiencies that lower total cost of ownership. For example, creating a DHCP range automatically creates an associated DNS record, reducing the number of tasks required of network administrators.

Granular, Role-Based Administration
Role-based administration is a powerful way to ensure that administrators are only given access to view and modify specific core network services attributes consistent with their organizational and functional role. For example, this means that a senior DNS administrator could have the ability to define new domains and add new appliances to a Grid, while a help desk administrator might only have the ability to view specific subnets and issue IP addresses to new devices by picking from a pre-defined list. Infoblox has created a very scalable, yet very granular role-based administration framework. The framework provides customers the ability to delegate administration down to the object level and yet maintain permissions for a large, complex administration model. Some specifics include:

- Easy workflow to manage permissions:The administrator can quickly set permissions by right-clicking on any object to bring up a list of permissions. This is much easier than having to switch to a separate administration panel. It also provides a comprehensive list of which permissions have been granted to each administration group.
- Administration is also eased through the use of roles: Roles can be mapped to an organization or job (e.g., Printer Admins, DNS Admins) and then roles can be assigned to administrative groups. This abstraction model allows a set of permissions to be defined once any changes to the role are inherited by all groups that are associated with it.

Enhanced Security
The Infoblox NIOS software is hardened and consistently withstands security scans and attacks within the most demanding government and military organizations. The DNS/DNSSEC and DHCP services provided by the NS1 package can be upgraded easily to support the latest versions of BIND and DHCP, ensuring minimum exposure to security threats. In the event that a new exploit is discovered, the underlying Infoblox NIOS software can be upgraded in minutes via a single, simple operation. This makes it much more difficult to penetrate than general-purpose operating systems with known vulnerabilities. Management communication is secured using Secure Sockets Layer (SSL)-encrypted VPNs for protection against management compromise.

DNS Attack Detection and Mitigation
Infoblox provides the ability to detect, alert and mitigate any attacks against members that are configured as recursive DNS servers. The NIOS software will monitor two key parameters that are indicators of an attack: mis-matched DNS message IDs and mis-matched UDP ports on DNS responses. This happens when an attacker is guessing on those parameters to “spoof” a response with the poisoned data. The administrator can set a threshold for both parameters and when either is exceeded the system will send an email alert and/or SNMP trap (whichever is configured for the system). This feature will give administrators an early warning that one of their servers is under attack.

In addition, Infoblox NIOS allows attack mitigation by implementing query rate-limiting. The administrator can implement a filter on a specific IP or network to limit or stop all traffic. This will slow down or stop the attack, the success of which is based on the attacker’s ability to try as many response “guesses” as possible before the legitimate DNS server can respond.

Push Button DNSSEC Implementation and Management
DNSSEC management is completely automated. Zones are signed with a single command and are re-signed automatically when records are updated. Keys are generated and distributed automatically. Infoblox provides the only DNSSEC solution with fully automated key management and key rollover.

Premium Maintenance

Infoblox Premium Maintenance is tailored for customer environments that require 24x7 access to technical support services. This program is offered in one, three, and five year durations all of which are renewable.

Technical Support

Customers receive support via phone, email, and web services. Infoblox provides assistance with initial product deployment and configuration, answers questions related to product features, diagnoses and corrects software errors, and provides configuration or software workarounds when applicable. Infoblox support technicians may also remotely log into a customer's system to help diagnose customer reported problems and/or deploy software patches and updates.

Email Support

Customers may request assistance from Infoblox technical support via email at support@infoblox.com. Please note that for Priority 1 (defined below) issues, customers are encouraged to contact Infoblox via its toll-free phone number. All email incident reports are logged into the Infoblox support CRM database and are addressed based upon the priority of the issues. The response time guidelines for premium services are provided in Table 1 below.

Web Support

Our online support center (support.infoblox.com) provides many resources for customer self-service. It contains an online searchable knowledgebase, downloadable tools for administering your Infoblox products, and a web-enabled CRM that allows users to log new support incidents and check the status of previously submitted incidents on a 24 x 7 basis.

Telephone Support

Telephone technical support is available 24 x 7, 365 days a year for all Priority 1 issues. All lower priority issues are handled between the hours of 6:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. PST. Customers in North America can contact us toll-free at 1-888-463-6259. Customers calling from outside North America can contact Infoblox technical support at +1-408-625-4200 . Infoblox technical support will respond to telephone inquiries using the Service Level Agreement provided in Table 1 below.

Software Maintenance and Upgrades

Customers under Premium Maintenance are entitled to all software patch releases, maintenance releases, and new upgrade releases applicable to the customer's hardware platform. Notification for new maintenance and upgrade releases is provided electronically by Infoblox technical support. Customers must register their products online at http://register.infoblox.com in order to receive such communications from Infoblox.

Advance Hardware Replacement

The customer is entitled to receive advance hardware replacement of defective product prior to Infoblox receiving the defective unit. For any Infoblox product that is defective in workmanship or materials, Infoblox will replace the unit with like unit from its facilities in Sunnyvale, CA or from the facilities of its integration partner(s).

For any RMA requests received before 3:00 p.m. Pacific Time on business days, Infoblox will ship the replacement unit the same business day to arrive at the customer premises the next business day (in U.S. only). For requests processed after 3:00 p.m. Pacific Time, the replacement will be shipped out to the customer the next business day. For requests received on non-business days, the RMA will be shipped out the next business day. All hardware units shipped as exchange replacements from Infoblox will be shipped at no cost to the customer and will be comprised of standard or reconditioned components of equal or greater quality, revision level, and/or functionality than the failed customer unit. For hardware failures that occur in the first 90 days of operation, Infoblox will replace the unit with a new unit. Upon receipt of the replacement unit from Infoblox, the customer must ship the RMA'ed unit back to Infoblox to arrive no later than 10 business days after the replacement unit is received. For customers outside of North America, Infoblox must receive the RMA'ed unit within 20 business days from the receipt of the replacement unit. Should Infoblox fail to receive the RMA'ed unit(s), the customer will be billed the then current Infoblox list price for the product. Non-payment by customer may result in suspension of all support services from Infoblox.

Advance replacement may not be available in all geographies. Please review the section entitled "Limitations" below for exclusions.

Maintenance Services Initiation

The service period commences once the product is shipped from Infoblox or from one of its authorized resellers or integration partners. Before initiating a service request the customer must:

- Register all Infoblox products via the online registration page at http://register.infoblox.com.
- Upon receipt of the registration request, Infoblox support will create a user ID and password for the customer enabling access to our online support center. Infoblox handles all registration requests within one business day.
- Infoblox will provide the customer with a unique contract ID that the customer can use for all subsequent interactions with Infoblox support.