Is it working? Has anyone complained? There is much more to a DNS audit. Organizations should conduct a DNS audit now to ensure critical needs are met. Many companies are taking the same short-sighted approach to managing and auditing their existing DNS infrastructure: If it is working, and no users are complaining about network access, then DNS must be fine. As a result, often a DNS audit goes something like this: Is it working? Check.

With this simplistic approach to a DNS audit, critical aspects of the DNS infrastructure are overlooked, opening up potential mis-configuration, disaster recovery, security, and compliance challenges.

Disaster recovery

Is it backed up? Will you be able to restore it? Most organizations lack a process for moving the existing DNS infrastructure into Disaster Recovery mode, which can prove costly should a failure occur. Are there mechanisms in place to provide services seamlessly during hardware and software failures? Can you still manage your environment during a disaster?

Security

Is your system secure and patched? The security of the DNS architecture depends on the strength of the operating system and server it runs on. It is important to leverage a dedicated server, and ensure the server and OS receive timely patches and updates. It is important to leverage dedicated, hardened servers. Management of your DNS systems and its data should be reviewed on a regular basis to ensure it meets company security requirements. Security controls like firewall rules and access control lists should be applied to your DNS systems and periodically reviewed.

Compliance & Reporting

Do you know who is making changes to your system? Reporting via log management is required for most audits to ensure regulatory and industry compliance. When leveraging excel spreadsheets organizations rely on manually updated information. As a result, they are unable to easily determine which systems were assigned which IP address, and when, calling into question the accuracy of data when audited. Beyond compliance and auditing, without a strong DNS solution, companies lose out on significant benefits related to monitoring capacity and performance statistics.

Misconfiguration

Who is making changes to your DNS and have they been properly trained? The amount of people making changes opens up possibilities for mistakes in configuration. Legacy settings, lack of error checking, stale data, and typos can cause slow applications, including email response.

The Increasing Demands on DNS Means It Needs Your Attention

The increasing adoption of VOIP and wireless networking is resulting in greater need for advanced DNS, DHCP and overall IP address management. More IP addresses are required and distributed within the company and more users are accessing the network, making it harder and harder to manage IP addresses and naming with an excel spreadsheet shared amongst the IT staff. As DNS has taken on more responsibility and sophistication, a more extensive and appropriate DNS audit becomes necessary.

It is increasingly likely that that an organization's current DNS infrastructure, while functioning, is no longer meeting the requirements of the company.

According to Gartner Group, in a research note titled "Active Directory and DNS Integration," February 11, 2008, choices exist in managing DNS. "Third-party DNS solutions are gaining momentum, will remain viable for the near term, and offer the best choice for enterprises that want the highest level of control over and management of their DNS environments." The DNS choices available to enterprises today, including Microsoft, Infoblox and others means it is time to conduct a true DNS audit, ascertain whether it is meeting the requirements of the organization, and then make changes and modifications based on the results.


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