Infoblox and Equinix have long helped joint customers modernize critical network services by deploying Infoblox NIOS DDI virtually on Equinix Network Edge. That’s still a great choice for organizations that want the tight control of self-hosting their own DNS, DHCP and IP address management (DDI) services.
At the same time, more organizations are adopting cloud‑first, asset‑light IT strategies. They want the resilience and manageability of enterprise‑grade DDI, but in a way that behaves more like a cloud service: fast to deploy, easy to scale and centrally managed across hybrid and multi‑cloud environments.
With the Infoblox Universal DDI™ Product Suite now available on Equinix Network Edge, customers can bring a cloud-aligned DDI model to the same Equinix platform they already trust for fast, simplified networking and interconnection. The upshot: existing Infoblox customers—as well as any cloud-first organization using Equinix Network Edge—can now run high-performance DDI close to users and customers, while managing everything through a centralized software-as-a-service (SaaS) control plane.
Bringing Universal DDI to Equinix Network Edge
With the new joint solution, customers can now deploy NIOS-X Virtual Servers (the platforms that link local networks with Universal DDI and Infoblox Threat Defense™ offerings in the cloud) on Equinix Network Edge, as well as NIOS virtual appliances. They can tap into the same industry-leading Infoblox DNS, DHCP and IP address management (IPAM) capabilities—along with the broader suite of Infoblox SaaS offerings—but in a cloud-first, container-based platform. That means fast upgrades, flexible scaling and simplified lifecycle management aligned with how teams already consume cloud services.
With the combination of Universal DDI and Equinix Network Edge, teams can:
- Spin up NIOS‑X protocol servers in minutes for DNS, DHCP and IPAM as virtual network functions (VNFs) in Equinix Metros worldwide, and provision globally through the Equinix portal.
- Run DDI services close to clouds, users and partners, taking advantage of Equinix’s globally distributed edge locations and interconnection fabric to deliver low‑latency name resolution and address assignment, and maintain good user experiences at distributed locations.
- Manage critical services across on-premises and cloud environments centrally through the Infoblox Portal, so they can treat DDI more like a cloud service, even as the DNS/DHCP data plane runs on Equinix infrastructure close to where traffic originates.
If you’re already using NIOS on Equinix, the option to deploy NIOS-X gives you an on-ramp to Infoblox’s SaaS-based offerings and a cloud-aligned path forward. And for any Equinix customer who prefers cloud-first IT, especially those still relying on aging Windows appliances, manual spreadsheets and fragile scripts for DDI services, they now have a platform that naturally fits their broader cloud and interconnection strategy.
Solving Urgent Business Challenges
Why is extending Universal DDI to Equinix Network Edge such a big deal? Because for many customers, this joint solution will address some of the biggest challenges they’re struggling with around mission-critical network services. These include:
- Hybrid and Multi-Cloud Complexity: As organizations span more clouds, colocation sites and data centers, trying to stitch together DNS, DHCP and IPAM services using legacy appliances and manual scripts becomes increasingly fragile. Configuration errors, inconsistent policies and visibility gaps all raise the risk of outages and security incidents.
- Appliance-Driven Delays and Overhead: Procuring, shipping and installing physical appliances can slow down branch rollouts, regional expansions and new cloud initiatives, while driving up capital expenses (CapEx) and operational burden—all of which run counter to cloud‑first strategies.
- Limited Automation for Cloud and AI Initiatives: As teams adopt more AI workloads, infrastructure‑as‑code (IaC) and API-driven automation, they need DDI that can keep up, integrated with DevOps pipelines instead of relying on manual updates and spreadsheets.
- Latency and Performance Gaps: Many organizations would prefer to centralize DNS and DHCP services to simplify operations and reduce per-site costs. At the same time, centralized architectures often introduce latency that affects real-time and performance-sensitive workloads, deteriorating the user experience. Many cloud-first organizations end up having to choose between centralized management or good performance. They can’t have both.
- Evolving Security Threats: Legacy security tools typically require a “patient zero” compromise in order to protect other organizations from similar attacks. In a world where threat actors can launch one-of-a-kind, AI-enabled attacks at scale, this approach doesn’t work. Organizations need the ability to detect novel threats from the first DNS query, before they take root in the network.
- Year-over-Year Cost and Egress Pressures: As more traffic flows between data centers, clouds and SaaS providers, organizations face rising connectivity and data egress fees, along with the ongoing expense of refreshing and maintaining infrastructure, making it harder to control costs.
With the Infoblox and Equinix joint solution, organizations can now combine cloud-first DDI with cloud-adjacent infrastructure to address all these challenges—without compromising performance, data sovereignty or cloud agility.
A True “Better Together” Story
With the ability to tap into Infoblox SaaS offerings via Equinix Network Edge, any organization on Equinix can now take advantage of:
- Unified Hybrid and Multi-Cloud Operations with Universal DDI: Simplify complex network operations by centrally managing DNS, DHCP and IPAM across on-premises data centers, Equinix Metro locations and multiple clouds from a single cloud-based control plane. Enforce consistent policies, role-based access and audit trails to minimize errors and outages and simplify compliance.
- Preemptive Security with Infoblox Threat Defense: Strengthen security posture by pairing the local visibility of NIOS-X on Equinix with Infoblox’s cloud-based Protective DNS solution. Dynamically block malicious domains, disrupt command-and-control traffic and help prevent data exfiltration by enforcing consistent DNS-layer policies.
Best of all, you can deploy and scale high-performance DDI services and connect with Infoblox’s cloud-based security and management solutions right from the Equinix Metros where your users, applications and partner ecosystems already live. By combining the locality and interconnection of Equinix with the agility of a SaaS-driven DDI platform, you can move faster without re-architecting your network.
Get Started Today
Whether you’re already running Infoblox on Equinix or just starting to evaluate DDI options for your Equinix environment, you can solve the biggest challenges around mission-critical network services without compromising performance, agility or control. Talk with your preferred technology partner, or your Infoblox/Equinix account teams, about where Universal DDI on Equinix Network Edge fits into your DDI roadmap and how you can modernize DDI while aligning with your cloud-first strategy.
For more details on the joint solution, including supported capabilities, deployment models and key use cases, download the Infoblox DDI on Equinix Network Edge solution note.
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