Alcatel VitalQIP User manual

VitalQIP®IP Address Management Software
Provides a Helicopter View of IP Services
for Ministry of Defense, The Netherlands
HIGHLIGHTS
Goal: For DTO, the IT group of
the Netherlands Department of
Defense, to improve the reliability
and stability of its 65,000-node
IP network, centralize IP, DHCP,
and DNS management and
control, and future-proof its
network.
Solution: Alcatel-Lucent’s
VitalQIP®DNS/DHCP IP manage-
ment software for configuring,
automating, integrating, and
administering IP services across
the network.
Results: Significant improvement
in network reliability and avail-
ability; reduced downtime due
to IP conflicts; more efficient
troubleshooting; centralized
oversight and management of
IP and DNS; a platform capable
of supporting new applications;
and a more flexible network able
to support multiple platforms.
With VitalQIP®, DTO is on the
road to providing 100% network
uptime.
DTO, the Netherlands Defense Department’s IT organization, is responsible for
running and maintaining the network which forms the backbone of the Defense
Department’s entire organizational and administrative infrastructure. Until the
late 1990s, the network was highly decentralized and managed locally rather
than on a centralized basis — for example, DNS was tracked in a variety of
ways by different departments, including using Word documents and Excel
spreadsheets. This caused reliability problems, and did not allow the DTO to
easily introduce new applications. To solve the problem, it turned to Alcatel-
Lucent’s VitalQIP®DNS/DHCP IP management software for configuring,
automating, integrating, and administering IP services across the network.
As a result, network uptime and reliability has been significantly improved,
vital defense applications are much more available, the time to troubleshoot
problems has been drastically cut, and the network is capable of handling new
applications and capabilities. The DTO is on the road to providing 100%
network uptime.
Benefits
OBJECTIVE BENEFITS ACHIEVED
Centralize control of a With VitalQIP®, IP, DNS, and DHCP are managed centrally, rather than
65,000-node network locally using Word documents and Excel spreadsheets. The DTO
network has been consolidated from 250 server farms to three data
centers, with VitalQIP®providing centralized IP management.
Improve network and The network and applications are much more highly available than
application reliability previously, because VitalQIP®has eliminated IP and DNS conflicts.
and uptime
Improve network With VitalQIP®, when there are DNS or DHCP problems, DTO is able
resiliency to quickly resolve them and keep the network up and running.
Improve flexibility By using VitalQIP®to move to a standards-based network, DTO can
be more flexible in the applications and services it offers.
“Future-proof” the Because DNS, DHCP, and IP are stable and centrally managed by DTO,
network the Defense Department’s IT group, has a stable platform on which
it can add new technologies and build new projects and applications.
CASE STUDIES
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About the DTO
The DTO is the IT organization of the Netherlands’ Department of Defense,
responsible for running and maintaining the network which forms the backbone of
the Defense Department’s entire organizational and administrative infrastructure.
It delivers a complete set of services, from fiber to ERP, including internal
business consulting. It manages a 65,000-node network.
The Challenge: Centralize IP Control and Improve Flexibility,
Reliability, and Resiliency
Like many organizations, until the late 1990s DTO, the IT-organization for the
Ministry of Defense in the Netherlands handled a highly decentralized network,
composed of many disparate systems, each of which was managed locally rather
than from a central location or department. IP and DNS management was handled
locally at each network, using manual tools, such as Word documents and Excel
spreadsheets. This led to a variety of problems, including IP conflicts, network
and application downtime, and administrators spending too much time managing
IP and DNS.
The DTO needed to modernize and standardize its network, and it decided to
move to an all-IP transport network. It also wanted to take advantage of enterprise-
wide applications, including Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) as well as other
new technologies, including Web services. Although DTO relies heavily on
Microsoft Windows 2000 Active Directory-integrated IP services, they, like many
other enterprise customers, saw a need to centrally manage their IP infrastructure
and the associated addresses and subnets with an automated network manage-
ment solution.
As it centralized its network and applications, it had to take control of managing
IP, DNS, and DHCP, but with IP management being handled locally, it had no
way of doing that. It recognized that it had to come up with a comprehensive
solution.
DTO Chooses VitalQIP®Network Management Software
DTO issued a Request for Proposal (RFP) for IP, DNS, and DHCP network manage-
ment software, and chose VitalQIP®Network Management Software. As the IT
management group for the Netherlands Defense Department, reliability and
resilience were foremost in its mind when making a choice — and those were
the features it found in VitalQIP®.
It chose VitalQIP®because the network management software has a long history
of reliability on several continents, and was proven technology that had been
implemented in a broad range of companies. Alcatel-Lucent also agreed to
help DTO with implementation and customization. In addition, Alcatel-Lucent
offered a clear roadmap detailing how VitalQIP®and other software were going
to evolve to handle IP services, and that plan matched DTO’s vision of where it
planned to take its network.
Case Study Forum
CASE STUDIES
“We had no way to gain control
over the IP management of our
network. It was decentralized,
and people were using Word
documents and Excel spread-
sheets to manage IP. We had to
find a comprehensive solution
for IP management.”
Albert Jan Boer
Senior Network Manager
DTO
“We’re a defense organization,
and reliability is extremely
important to us. We chose
VitalQIP®because it is the
most reliable, resilient solution,
and is proven technology
implemented by a broad range
of companies.”
Albert Jan Boer
Senior Network Manager
DTO

3
Figure 1. VitalQIP IP Address Management Software provides centralized IP address management including
DHCP and powerful DNS and add-on module capabilities including full support of managing Microsoft
Windows 2000 DNS/DHCP services.
Solution Integration
DTO selected Netlink for the implementation and management of the VitalQIP®
IP address management solution. Netlink is an award-winning VitalQIP®partner
and has for many years been involved in implementing and maintaining IP man-
agement solutions. Its expertise and migration experience, number of IP services
management specialists, and in-depth knowledge of infrastructure (including
DNS, DHCP and Windows 2000/Active Directory) make Netlink a unique IP
services management partner in the Netherlands.
Netlink has more than seven years of experience in IP services management
and was certified by Alcatel-Lucent for implementing and supporting VitalQIP®.
Netlink deals with more than 50 enterprise customers in the IP management
segment. This made DTO's choice of Netlink a logical one. In addition to the
VitalQIP®solution, Netlink has implemented QIP-integrated Netlink's DNS Sanity
and monitoring solution, which leads to a 100% consistent DNS infrastructure.
Netlink offers first, second and third line support for the IP management solution.
DTO benefit from Netlink's expertise seven days a week and 24 hours a day.
Netlink guarantees the performance of the solution with strict service level
agreements.
VitalQIP®Offers Centralized Management, Control, and Flexibility
The DTO updated its network in several stages, and at each stage, VitalQIP®
proved key to the consolidation and modernization. In 2001, the DTO centralized
its network, and used VitalQIP®to solve DHCP and name space problems.
Previously, there were name space problems because the decentralized nature of
IP administration led to devices using the same names, which caused conflicts
and problems with the ERP system. By centralizing control of IP, DNS, and DHCP,
VitalQIP®solved the problem.
Work Flow Manager
Network
Allocator
VitalQIP
Audit
Manager
Lucent
DNS
Tactical
DNS
Discovery
iDHCP
Registration
Manager
Lucent
DHCP
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v
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M
a
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P
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Automation
Address Allocation
Auditing
Management
Authentication
Reconcilliation
Assignment
Lucent
DNS
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CASE STUDIES
“Without Netlink we would not
achieved such great results
with our complex IP services
infrastructure. They are true
experts in IP management and
the VitalQIP solution.”
Albert Jan Boer
Senior Network Manager
DTO

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During the next phase, the DTO made a significant infrastructure change — it
moved from 250 separate server farms to three large data centers, integrated
with Microsoft Active Directory, and added new network infrastructure. Again,
VitalQIP®was key to the project, allowing for central administration of IP, DHCP,
and DNS.
The results have been dramatic. Network and application downtime has been
reduced, and the 600 separate applications DTO manages, including the ERP
system, have much higher availability. The network is more highly resilient;
when DNS or DHCP fails, the DTO can quickly find and resolve the problem.
Perhaps most important is that the people of the Netherlands are safer because
of the network stability offered by VitalQIP®. “I’m convinced that people are
safer because of our use of VitalQIP®,” says Albert Jan Boer, DTO Senior
Network Manager. “What we do as a defense organization makes a difference
in people’s lives, and we couldn’t function without our network — and our
network couldn’t function without VitalQIP®
.”
Boer cite several key features of VitalQIP®that he finds especially useful,
including the ability to offer insight into DNS and DHCP usage, the IP tracing
facilities, and the easy provisioning of subnets.
In addition to reliability and other benefits, he believes that VitalQIP®offers
cost-savings as well, because staff have to put less time into resolving IP conflicts
and other incidents, and because IP, DHCP, and DNS can be managed using
automated tools rather than manually via documents and spreadsheets.
DTO Looks to the Future
VitalQIP®has allowed DTO to build and manage an integrated, reliable, resilient
network, and to focus on its next set of challenges. DTO plans on using VitalQIP®
to offer 100% uptime with no outages to the network or applications. Boer
adds that because VitalQIP®“future-proofs” the network, DTO will be able to
build new, advanced IP services on top of it, including wireless network access.
Alcatel-Lucent Network Operations Software — Market Leading Enterprise Software
VitalSuite®Performance Management Software is a key component of the Alcatel-Lucent
Software portfolio. Only Alcatel-Lucent offers multi-vendor, multi-technology, multi-service
software solutions developed on extensible, programmable platforms, open APIs and
advanced system architectures. These carrier-grade solutions provide the reliability, scalability
and flexibility to deliver advanced services across current and next generation networks —
while improving efficiencies, significantly reducing operating expenses and delivering the
Quality of Service that today’s enterprise users demand. And with more than 10,000 network
consultants, engineers, and service professionals around the globe, Alcatel-Lucent Worldwide
Services can address all your performance management support requirements. Let our experts
assess the readiness of your current network; plan, design, and build solutions that optimize
your particular environment; integrate our market leading software solutions with your existing
infrastructure; and provide ongoing maintenance support. To learn more, contact your Alcatel-
Lucent sales representative, authorized reseller or sales agent. You can also visit our web site
at http://www.alcatel-lucent.com/vital.
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CASE STUDIES
“We couldn’t have done this
without VitalQIP®. We’re a
65,000-node network with
multiple tens of thousands
users, and things constantly
change all the time. VitalQIP®
has been reliable, robust, and
flexible, and it’s been the key
to the success of our network.”
Albert Jan Boer
Senior Network Manager
DTO
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