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So long, NetID: Campus upgrades Internet address server
07/17/2009
The campus is replacing the NetID server, which provides Internet addresses for a great many campus computers. Most people won't notice a difference--the work simply replaces a vital but outdated system that has reached the end of its service life.
The replacement server, InfoBlox, has more features and is easier to update than Net ID, which is no longer supported by its vendor. The project team chose InfoBlox after considering and evaluating seven contenders, and after consulting with various campus technology groups.
"The project team was very budget-focused," said Todd Chapman, a programmer who works at the Network Operations Center and is a key member of the project group. "InfoBlox is a useful, efficient system, and we are very pleased with the device's integration with the campus network so far."
In technical terms, InfoBlox will replace parts of the campus DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol) and DNS (Domain Name System) infrastructure now provided by NetID and Aspiga, respectively. DHCP provides the numerical Internet addresses that identify hosts on a computer network. But because people typically know computer addresses by their domain names--such as my.ucdavis.edu-- DNS translates the name into the numerical Internet address format that computers use.
The relationship is similar to that of a phone and a phone book. Phones work with numbers; the phone book tells you who a number belongs to.
The cutover to InfoBlox is due to finish in September, although technology support personnel will start working with InfoBlox in late July. Read more at the NetID page posted on the Administrative Computing Policy site.
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