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R E V I E W

Do It Yourself DNS

April 3, 2003
By Joe Hernick and Dean Ellerton

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BlueCat Networks Adonis

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	In this article
	Introduction
	BlueCat Networks Adonis
	ApplianSys DNSBox300
	Infoblox DNS One
	Executive Summary \| How We Tested \| Related Links
	Report Card

This sturdy contender comes in a 1U rackmount chassis that boasts a clear, front-mounted LCD for status and basic configuration input. The efficient admin interface is a Java-based client that will install on Windows, Linux and Solaris. Adonis uses BIND 9, and, like all products tested for this review, it's backward-compatible with BIND 4 and BIND 8.

Out of the box, Adonis gave us the second-best time of the three appliances to get up and running (with one zone and answering queries). We loaded the Java client on a Windows NT desktop, and ran through the slick setup wizards to create a configuration floppy disk. We booted the Adonis box with the configuration floppy, then synched the client and appliance. Total setup time was about five minutes after racking.

The client-based configuration carries an additional benefit: the flexibility to blast away our first config and convert the Adonis from a primary DNS server to a secondary or caching server in less than five minutes. And for less experienced administrators, the initial configuration wizard offers snazzy graphics to explain the different types of DNS topologies (slave, master or DDNS, for instance) that are possible with the BlueCat equipment.

After converting our existing environment's BIND config files to match Unix-style "ti" line endings (we run a primarily Macintosh OS X shop), we could pull in our file (including named.conf) with no problems. We did miss the GUI import tools offered by the other contenders, as we scratched our heads reviewing obscure text-file-formatting issues.

BlueCat Networks Adonis

click to enlarge

Although the Adonis requires you to install a client on your PC (the other devices use Web interfaces), its interface is both full-featured and simple to use. The client offers a Microsoft Explorer-like tree structure that we found easy to navigate. Adonis' update feature is easily configured from the client, allowing manual or automated pull-downs of BIND and OS security patches from BlueCat.

Adonis truly shines with security. The ACL (access-control list) tools are excellent. Right from the initial installation, everything is secure--including adds/drops and communications between master and slave. Security is maintained via a 128-bit-encrypted SSL connection on Port 10042 between the appliance and client. The certificate keys are generated and installed via the configuration floppy. SSL certificates can only be shared with additional clients via configuration disks. Adonis offers an integrated firewall and keeps only two ports open--for DNS requests and SSL communications with the client.

The error-checking capabilities are impressive. The BlueCat box wowed us with the speed and thoroughness of its audit tools. It instantly reviewed our imported DNS configs and highlighted a couple of minor issues. We watched the tools run through an import file from a multithousand node network in less than five seconds, identifying a number of problems. The tools can check existing configuration files on the client and do a live data check of the environment.

Adonis does need some improvement in one area: Apple Macintosh compatibility. We'd like to see a Macintosh-compatible client. The importation of existing zones and configurations was simple with respect to text files and databases, but not being able to directly import a zone via transfer from existing DNS servers is disappointing, especially from such an impressively polished product. The other two appliances allow for direct import via zone transfer from existing servers, making administration easier.

Adonis, $9,995. BlueCat Networks, (905) 882-5691. www.bluecatnetworks.com