Bloxfest Track on Core DDI - what would you like to learn or discuss at the event?

[#1]

Core DDI: Infoblox is the industry leader in managing DNS, DHCP and IP addresses – the category known as DDI. What do you want to learn about DDI at Bloxfest?

We want to hear from you.  After all, this event is for you, our customers!

Eric

[#2]

I was just thinking about this as I just posted a blog entry on our site regarding a DHCP failover "war story", and I was wondering if anyone would be prepared to stand up and confess their own "war story" - i.e. things that went monumentally wrong, what caused it, what was the impact and how did they fix it.

The problem is I am not sure if any customers will stand up and admit to such a foul-up, and Infoblox also may not be too happy if the problem was a result of a product issue rather than an PEBKAC issue (that's "Problem Exists Between Keyboard And Chair"). :-)

But if there was some way to do it we could all learn a hell of a lot from someone elses misfortune. Maybe it's something that the partners can do as then they can keep the end user details anonymous. You could have an award for the most monumental foul-up? :-)

I'll admit I have more war stories from my days with QIP than I do with Infoblox. Maybe that says something in itself. :-)

Cheers,

Paul

[#3]

I just had another idea. There are a lot of very technical features in the product that I think a lot of people don't know about, or have thought looks too complicated to implement. Maybe there's some way of having a session dedicated to discussing, configuring and demo'ing some of these less well known and used features?

For instance, in NIOS 7.2 you brought out the user identification feature for DHCP clients, but many people on older NIOS versions may not know about this or understand how to set it up. I haven't had a chance to lab this myself yet either, but fundamentally it sounds like a great feature.

Also you have things like DHCP Authentication, another great feature but I don't know anyone that uses it.

Setting up GSS-TSIG is not something I do regularly so am a bit rusty here, you could discuss the pros and cons and go through a deployment example with multiple AD domains just to make it more interesting.

Also maybe there's scope for a "Fixed address vs Fixed host" debate - pros and cons of each.

Dig into some of the advanced menus and there's all sorts of tick boxes and configuration items that people probably stay well clear of due to lack of understanding.

Then add in some of the stuff you can do with DNS Firewall, RPZ tricks, a look at ADP and also reporting etc. and you can start to educate people about what's possible with some of the add-ons that they might not have yet (generate additional sales etc.).

I'm a techie at heart so I don't really want to just listen to sales and marketing pitches, I want hardcore technical info, and if there's a way to make it fun and interesting, then even better.

Cheers,

Paul

[#4]

Thank you Paul, great Bloxfest recommendations!  Keep them coming.  I ensure the folks managing the event see all feedback/suggestions submitted.

Best,

Eric

[#5]

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@paulr wrote:

Also you have things like DHCP Authentication, another great feature but I don't know anyone that uses it.

Setting up GSS-TSIG is not something I do regularly so am a bit rusty here, you could discuss the pros and cons and go through a deployment example with multiple AD domains just to make it more interesting.

Also maybe there's scope for a "Fixed address vs Fixed host" debate - pros and cons of each.

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These are the three things that I have had to figure out.  The whole TSIG was the whole reason why were having issues with DNS updating.  After working with support, we finally got it figured out.

The next thing I'd like is some demos or cool things that we see between infoblox and vRA.  We are starting to get heavy with this and would like to learn more to help assist our private cloud team.

[#6]

I second Paul on the "hardcore technical info" !

You might draw some inspiration from Cisco Live. They use simple numbering for their sessions :

Sessions number starting with 1 are sales and markteting picthes

Sessions number starting with 2 are tech product intro

Sessions number starting with 3 are the real deal.

[#7]

Quick note, super early-bird registration is now available. Please follow this link if you would like to register or find more information.

If you have additional questions regarding the conference, please post here and we'll get them answered as quickly as possible.

Thank you for your continued support.

Eric

[#8]

I'll stick my neck out.

We have an external, locally written permission limited front end.  Since people (around 300) can make changes any time they need to do so, we have a cron job that fires off a grid restart (any member that needs it with delay between) every 15 minutes.  Leaving that in place has bolloxed our failover more than once until I finally realized what was happening.

[#9]

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@ABodart wrote:

I second Paul on the "hardcore technical info" !

You might draw some inspiration from Cisco Live. They use simple numbering for their sessions :

Sessions number starting with 1 are sales and markteting picthes

Sessions number starting with 2 are tech product intro

Sessions number starting with 3 are the real deal.

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 Third on that.

I can't request this conference from management right now, as the information on the available training is so vague.  We can't tell if it's going to be marketing information or deep-dive tech.

[#10]

Appreciate the inputs and suggestions!  Keep them coming.  The conference is definitely intended to be technically-rich, and valuable for our customers to feel mor effective in securing and managing their networks after attending the tracks and classes available during the conference.

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@RQuinlan_1 wrote:

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@ABodart wrote:

I second Paul on the "hardcore technical info" !

You might draw some inspiration from Cisco Live. They use simple numbering for their sessions :

Sessions number starting with 1 are sales and markteting picthes

Sessions number starting with 2 are tech product intro

Sessions number starting with 3 are the real deal.

---

 Third on that.

I can't request this conference from management right now, as the information on the available training is so vague.  We can't tell if it's going to be marketing information or deep-dive tech.

---

Eric

[#11]

Bloxfest Core DDI track info includes:

• Infoblox Dynamic DNS (DDNS) and Expanded Features in NIOS 7.3
• DNS Traffic Control for Availability and Performance
• Infoblox and Microsoft in Hybrid Environments
• Drilling Down for Critical Visibility: New Infoblox Reporting and Analytics
• Leveraging API Automation for NGDC and Cloud Deployments
• Scavenging to Clean Up Your DNS
• Cisco ISE and the pxGrid
• Infoblox Network Insight Best Practices for Network Discovery
• User Identity Mapping
• IPv6 in the Enterprise
• Replacing Microsoft Completely with Infoblox
• Infoblox Active Directory Site Management

Register Now!

[#12]

Looks good! Anyone from the UK going?

[#13]

Unfortunately I don't have access to the list of people who've registered. I know conversations are taking place in all regions.  Hope you can make it!

[#14]

The track session scheduler is now available, so if you're registered, you can "book" your spot in any of the tracks or hands-on labs!  

Let me know if you have any questions!

Eric

[#15]

Thanks, I have been having a look but there are a lot of conflicting sessions I would like to attend, also the hands-on labs, it almost seems like there's too much choice. I think I am there with my selections but have had to compromise on a lot, I might still go for some of the hands-on labs which means I'll miss more of the sessions. I'm still working on my final selections.