BlueCat Integrity Reviews

As a large-scale enterprise, we've relied on BlueCat Integrity as our internal DDI solution for years, managing DHCP, DNS, and IP address administration for our entire corporate network.

We have BlueCat Integrity deployed in a hybrid environment within our data centers and services like AWS, GCP, and OCI, and we are currently migrating to a cloud-only model. Our organization is getting rid of its data centers. So we are actually in the migration phase into being an only OCI and GCP.

My experience with BlueCat Integrity has been straightforward. The platform boasts comprehensive documentation for all its services, readily accessible within the console itself. Whenever questions arise about specific features or functionalities, detailed information is conveniently embedded within the individual web and UI pages. Additionally, BlueCat provides a robust guide for API access, making it a breeze to integrate with the platform. Overall, the GUI deserves a solid five out of five for user-friendliness, while the API learning curve bumps it down to a four out of five.

BlueCat Integrity offers a unified view of our entire IP address space, encompassing both on-premises infrastructure, data centers, and cloud environments. It allows us to automate virtually every aspect of IP address management.

The single pane of glass is extremely important to our organization. We have utilized all of our IPv4 space. So we need to understand what we are utilizing across the entire address space, and having everything in a single pane of glass allows us to quickly find out where we can utilize different insider blocks and stuff like that within our infrastructure. Having it all in one place makes things a lot easier.

It is flexible. The solution does exactly what I needed to do. I've had a long-standing relationship with BlueCat themselves and a lot of the feature requests to address past issues have been implemented. They've consistently updated the API, improved the UI through ongoing integrations, and pushed out platform changes nearly every quarter. While BlueCat Integrity had some initial drawbacks in 2018, its iterative approach and adaptability to our environment ensured it ultimately fit our needs perfectly.

We have implemented an integration between ServiceNow and BlueCat. The asset management database, or CMDB, is housed within ServiceNow. We synchronize information from this database with BlueCat, and vice versa. This ensures accurate representation of all deployed devices within our network, including precise details regarding IP addresses, MAC addresses, and other pertinent data. This integration between the two tools has been successfully established.

Originally, when we deployed our DDI infrastructure using Windows, DHCP, and DNS with Active Directory, managing the platform at scale was a major challenge. We had to log in to each server individually to manage the DHCP IP address space and manually sync all those records between Active Directory for DNS. This involved a lot of manual work just to manage the three services together. Migrating to BlueCat transformed everything. It provided a single pane of glass for all three services. Now, we not only see our entire IP address space in one view, but we can also manage both DNS and DHCP through the same interface. We can even choose which IP address space gets deployed to what server and have records automatically created and populated within BlueCat. This simplified management has dramatically reduced the time we need to spend on maintaining the platform, freeing us to focus on improving our infrastructure overall.

Through APIs or programmatic calls, we can accomplish a much wider range of tasks within BlueCat. We can leverage change control to modify a significant amount of information, implementing new checks and balances along the way. This centralized approach, accessible via a single pane of glass, eliminates the need for constant server logins and manual changes, typically performed by humans. Consequently, human intervention has been drastically reduced, minimizing the risk of human error. Additionally, we've implemented change control, adding an extra layer of transparency and requiring human approval for modifications.

BlueCat Integrity has helped us significantly reduce organizational downtime. This was possible because we rebuilt our entire infrastructure to be highly available. With Windows, we're limited to only two servers, and if one fails, both DHCP and DNS capabilities suffer depending on which server went down. In contrast, BlueCat's single pane of glass management allows us to quickly shift workloads to a different server within the platform, virtually eliminating downtime. This high availability is a major advantage of BlueCat Integrity.

Before implementing BlueCat Integrity, our infrastructure relied on a patchwork of disconnected tools. We juggled Active Directory, DHCP, DNS, and even a timeworn spreadsheet for mapping our IP space. Additionally, managing remote offices involved juggling services like Meraki and others. BlueCat unified these disparate elements into a single platform, granting us access to all necessary features through one interface. This consolidation proved particularly valuable as we transitioned to the cloud. BlueCat seamlessly redeployed onto GCP and OCI, preserving its inherent flexibility without requiring additional tools for these new environments.

BlueCat Integrity has freed up our IT staff for other projects by reducing the need for constant server configuration and manipulation, particularly for new offices. Thanks to its robust automation features, managing the service requires minimal time investment overall. This allows our resources to either focus on approving new service features or tackling other important infrastructure tasks.

BlueCat helped us reduce hidden costs associated with deploying services like Active Directory and DHCP through Windows. These services, while nearly free to install, required significant labor for server maintenance. With BlueCat, we pay more upfront for licensing and server deployment, but the reduced need for engineering and minimal downtime offset this cost.

Transitioning from a free model to a paid one can be slightly more challenging. To make an informed decision, we need a clear understanding of the labor involved in maintaining our current free services. Companies adept at valuing fixes, changes, and server maintenance can readily compare platform costs. We can simply compare our current engineering expenses against the potential investment in a platform like BlueCat deployment. However, quantifying the value of a solution can be trickier, as much of its benefit lies in its hidden aspects, like improved back-end efficiency and platform uptime.

When I first took over ownership of the DHCP and DNS Management services within my company, it was all-consuming. My mind was constantly on what was happening, and what issues needed attention. I was primarily in reactive mode, constantly firefighting and keeping things operational. But after transitioning to Bluecat, a shift occurred. The platform's stability allowed me to move beyond the immediate and think strategically. No longer burdened by constant troubleshooting and remediation, I could finally focus on iterating and driving progress. In essence, I transitioned from a reactive, backward-looking mindset to a proactive, forward-thinking one, empowered by the platform's capabilities.

We use BlueCat Integrity to manage all of our IP addresses. Whenever we deploy a new device or anything that needs an IP address, we consult our IP address manager. This includes anything that is not on our DHCP scope, mainly server-based systems. We manually enter the DNS names for these IP addresses. We use DHCP for quite a few systems, but we set reservations for certain endpoints that require static IP addresses, such as admin desktops that we only want to allow those IPs through.

We have BlueCat Integrity deployed on-premises. We have three servers: a master and two IP address managers, which are devices that serve up IP addresses and handle DHCP.

BlueCat Integrity is easy to use for those who are accustomed to Windows. There was a slight learning curve, but it wasn't difficult at all. Everything is laid out very well. Creating records, CNAMEs, subzones, and so on is all quite straightforward. I didn't have any problems with it and didn't need to call support or ask other people for help most of the time. It's very well laid out. BlueCat gave us a quick overview when they helped us set it up, and from there, I was able to figure everything out on my own. I would say it's quite intuitive.

BlueCat provides us with a single pane of glass view. This is a convenient feature to have but not necessary.

Since implementing BlueCat, we have experienced fewer problems, anomalies, and strange issues. Our desktop support staff no longer complains about not receiving DHCP addresses. BlueCat seems to be more reliable.

BlueCat has helped reduce downtime.

BlueCat has freed up around 20 percent of our staff's time, making it easier and quicker for us to manage IP addresses, since we didn't have an IPAM system or even use Windows before. We now only use Windows for DNS integration, so having a reliable source for IP address management has been helpful.

We use BlueCat Address Manager for the DHCP and DNS servers.

It provides a single-pane-of-glass view of our IP address space. It's pretty critical for us because the whole organization depends on it for IP address assignments. We have a big network. To assign an IP, I don't want to go to different servers or give the wrong IP. I can just go to Address Manager, which gives me a complete view of everything. Even while troubleshooting, I don't have to jump through two different things or four different things to solve a problem.

It's flexible. For example, just the day before yesterday, I ended up upgrading it from one version to two jumps. It happened pretty seamlessly. In the past, I had to jump, for example, from 9.1.0 to 9.1.1 and so on, but recently, even though we were down two versions, we were able to do it in one shot. That was big for me.

It has helped reduce human error, especially if you're looking at it from the perspective of having one pane. You don't want IP conflicts. If I was using two different platforms for my big organization, it's possible that I could assign the same IP to something else, and then there would be a conflict. It reduces errors in that sense because you have one Address Manager that provides a complete view of the organization. If I assign an IP, it's one IP that we know about.

It reduces downtime. For example, while troubleshooting an issue, if I had to look at several panes, it could take me an hour to get to the bottom of the issue, whereas, with BlueCat, I can literally jump into my Address Manager and look for that specific IP. I get to know immediately which subnet it is. I can then track it within two or three minutes.

It has helped to consolidate tools. We are currently doing consolidation. We are integrating with another company, and in addition to DHCP, we are about to get BlueCat for DNS as well. We are in the process of working with BlueCat to move DNS from AD to BlueCat.

It has definitely helped free up our IT staff for other projects.

We use Integrity for DNS, DHCP, and IP address management. It provides a means to track our public and internal IP space and to find information about network utilization. Integrity is the sole DNS for the entire company. We have two on-prem data centers and servers on two cloud providers that all use the BlueCat DNS. The company has about 150 remote offices throughout the US, and they all use the centralized BlueCat DNS and DHCP services. There are 25,000 employees, but only about 50 are direct users, including a few engineers with admin rights. 

We have experienced some challenges with the high availability of the physical boxes. As we've gone to the virtualization and cloud options, that has become much more resilient. Patching was sometimes problematic because we had to do it from the command line, and the GUI was limited. Sometimes, things would get stuck, so you had to go to the command line. Integrity offers some GUI enhancements, high availability, logging improvements, and tools you can use to pull data from it. It's much easier for lower-level engineers to do quick checks without command-line access. That has been a significant improvement.

A few years ago, we migrated to a virtual server infrastructure and changed the Active Directory in that model to point to BlueCat Integrity DNS rather than Microsoft ActiveNet. By doing that, we alleviated many of the security and performance issues we had with Microsoft appliances. 

We also changed the server infrastructure from static IP addresses to dynamic DHCP reservations. Regardless of where the VMs come up, the DHCP reservation gives them the correct address and DNS. We do dynamic DNS with that. All those things reduced the labor required to fix and tune problems manually. It's a more automated, seamless solution. Integrity improved our resiliency and accuracy while reducing the potential for manual error. 

Aside from the DHCP, there are other automated things we can do. We can integrate things like Splunk and other search or logging tools via API and extract data about IP addresses, DNS changes, etc., into other investigative tools or dashboards. The options are endless, and that has helped us with monitoring and integrating other tools. When we do projects that involve migrating servers or networks from one technology to another, having that API call to see the live status of the project is helpful.  

Integrity improves our security by providing a single source of IP address usage and contact information. We also have carrier circuit and location information. The cybersecurity team can pull all those pieces together in one searchable query and find out about certain IP addresses and who to contact. You can add customizable columns and extra variables.

In the past, we did not have a DDI system, so information was distributed in different places. As our environment became more complicated with on-campus, remote offices, and cloud setups, we wanted to integrate all the information together. We recognized the need for a DDI system.

BlueCat Integrity provides a single pane of glass view for the IP address space, which is important for general planning, design, and implementation. As the environments become more complex, it is very hard to grab information from different places.

It has helped us avoid overlapping information, which is a major benefit as previously we picked up information from different places. We have largely been using IPAM and DNS, although the DNS migration into BlueCat is still in progress.

BlueCat Integrity has helped reduce human error by 20% to 30%.

BlueCat Integrity might have had some effect on reducing downtime or improving network stability. It is hard to measure the effect. Both these aspects are operations-related. If we avoid any overlap in the design and planning phases, generally, it can lower operational risk.

It provides us with IPAM, which is managing our address space, along with DNS and DHCP services.

Integrity supplies DNS resolution, which is how everything runs, the devices or host need to resolve a name, and it provides those answers in a quick, orderly fashion and everything is humming in the network. Without it, meaning if things were failing and breaking down, we would be impacted.

There are some RFCs that Integrity abides by so that you can't create records that are not in accordance with RFC standards. Other tools I've seen will let you create those records but Integrity doesn't allow you to do so. You don't make those mistakes.

In addition, there were some areas in our organization where address space was still kept on spreadsheets or that used other tools to support DNS or to manage the address space. Integrity has become the single source of truth for our address space. Using the database within Integrity has given us the ability to create UDFs (user-defined fields) and populate them with additional data that provides security information, devices, and application owners.

In that regard, what's in the database is not Integrity's problem, but it's only as good as what you put into it and remove from it. As long as the data you put in is accurate and, when you decommission things, you remove them, it's fine.

I use BlueCat Integrity for end-to-end DDI management, which includes DNS, DHCP, and IP management. It helps in creating domains, records, and networks. It serves IPs to specific hosts, simplifying life as a DDI engineer. 

The overall benefit of using BlueCat Integrity is that it allows access to servers and troubleshooting of servers, which is not offered by some of the other market products. When you use BlueCat Integrity, you learn more than VDI. You get hands-on experience with Linux. You get to learn more things when you are using BlueCat Integrity. They also offer exceptional customer service.

BlueCat Integrity provides a single-pane-of-glass view of our IP address space. Within this single pane of glass, we can also have multiple views. I can create multiple subblocks and configure them, for example, country-wise.

It drastically reduces human error, reducing it by 80% to 85%.

BlueCat has helped our organization reduce downtime. We can monitor the online status of services with the help of SNMP. We can use all three SNMP variables, such as SNMPv1, SNMPv2, and SNMPv3. With the help of that, we can monitor server health.

It has helped save a huge amount of time in the domain and record creation process. It saves about 90% of our time.

BlueCat Integrity has relieved engineers from manual tasks, freeing up time for other projects. It relieves engineers in a huge way. It relieves the DDI engineers from touching the Linux bind servers or DB servers. Using BlueCat Integrity saves a huge amount of time. With that time, we can handle other projects.

I use REST APIs. I create scripts, and we have our gateway, so we create our own gateway workflows. We use BlueCat automation to create around four to five thousand objects. It saves about two minutes per object.

We use BlueCat appliances and the Integrity platform for our DHCP environment. That's on the internal side. All of our DHCP for hospitals throughout the country are managed by BlueCat. The external DNS, also. We're authoritative for all of our own DNS zones. So we use BlueCat on the outside for public, DNS.

Better uptime than Windows due to patching.  Single Pane of glass for managing enterprise wide DHCP.