“The (NetID) solution we were using to manage our core network services was in a state of disarray. After evaluating the Infoblox solution, it was so many miles ahead than any other product on the market, we knew it was the right fit for us. There are so many benefits to using Infoblox that to narrow it down would be difficult.”
—Charles Galler, Network Administrator III from Kelsey-Seybold
Kelsey-Seybold Clinic combines the experience and expertise of more than 320 physicians providing primary care and specialty care at 18 clinic locations throughout the greater Houston,Texas area. Kelsey-Seybold Clinic cares for more than 400,000 patients each year, including members of managed care plans, employer groups and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).
Shortcomings in conventional core network services, such as DNS, DHCP & IPAM, can unexpectedly disrupt network availability and the applications that depend on them, which in turn, can compromise patient care.
Kelsey-Seybold had several concerns about the health of their core network services environment including: the requirement of many cycles and experts to maintain, upgrade and patch; unreliability; potential vulnerability to DDoS attacks; no audit logs to investigate network breeches; and poor scalability.
Finally, Kelsey-Seybold’s IT department was forced to make a decision about their core network services products when their Nortel NetID products had reached end of life. The NetID product was cumbersome, demanded constant administrative attention and had inherent security problems. Each server had to be managed independently. Additionally, frequent updates and patching consumed already limited resources and budget.
“Our existing NetID product put a strain on our staff and resources,” said Charles Galler, Network Administrator III from Kelsey-Seybold. “We had limited visibility into log records and many security concerns. We were also going through a time of transition. In three years, our IT department had grown by 300 percent. As a part of an overall cleanup and reorganization process we went through a complete network upgrade in 2007. This was a precursor to our core network services upgrade. We needed to have control with one person managing our core network services, not an army of many.”
Kelsey-Seybold began looking at Infoblox in late 2007. The organization also looked at BlueCat Networks but because of lack of professional services quickly eliminated them from the process. Kelsey-Seybold also looked to their fellow healthcare peers for input and recommendations. Houston is well known for its superior healthcare with Baylor University and the MD Anderson Cancer Center, all within close location of Kelsey-Seybold.
“In the medical community, we all work within close proximity to one another,” continued Galler. “Besides working with our peers, we drew on personal information and experience as well. That is what led us to Infoblox. The nature of our organization is not to do a lot of bidding when choosing a product. We needed something technically superior and that would meet our needs.”
In December 2007, Kelsey-Seybold purchased six Infoblox appliances: the Infoblox-1050 and the Infoblox-550 platforms. Within three weeks of purchasing the appliances, Kelsey Seybold made the official switch to Infoblox. The process was seamless.
“The (NetID) solution we were using to manage our core network services was in a state of disarray,” said Galler. “After evaluating the Infoblox solution, it was so many miles ahead than any other product on the market, we know it was the right fit for us. There are so many benefits tousing Infoblox that to narrow it down would be difficult.”
Since using the Infoblox solution, support calls for DNS issues have virtually disappeared. Infoblox appliances now provide nonstop core network services, eliminate reliance on experts, and improve security. Common upgrade and patching has become streamlined with Infoblox enabling “one-button” upgrades to accommodate new features and easy installation of the latest BIND releases.
Additionally, Infoblox’s Grid technology links appliances across the datacenters into a unified, distributed system that is resilient to network and equipment failures and provides central management so all core network services and systems can be managed from a single console.
Houston, Texas’ largest healthcare clinic with 23 locations across three counties
Internal and external DNS, DHCP and IPAM
When their Nortel NetID product reached end of life, Kelsey-Seybold needed a stable, established and reliable solution with which to replace it
6 appliances for:
