IBM NS1 Connect

Too many things to remember!

Whilst speaking to teams who manage their company’s DNS setup, it often seems that more of the publicly facing side of infrastructure falls under their remit, whether they like it or not. Domain name management, certificate management, and creating/securing redirects often fall within these teams. This usually means multiple steps within assorted service portals. For example, a colleague from marketing might ask to point an old unused domain to a brand new one, all while ensuring no end user notices the change, the redirect doesn’t cause any security issues with browsers, and that your page stays at the top of any Google search! That task usually involves more than just pointing a DNS record from “myolddomain.com” to “mynewdomain.com”. If any part of that process fails, you may see errors in your browser that look something similar to what's shown below.

The Challenge of Managing HTTPS Redirects In-House

Setting up secure redirects in-house usually involves several steps:

1. Purchasing Domains and Certificates: You need to purchase a domain and an SSL certificate from a certificate authority, to prevent unauthorized third parties from intercepting data in transit and used to validate the website's authenticity.

2. Configuring Web Servers: Set up an AWS EC2 instance (or your favourite hyperscaler) to handle the redirect, configure the web server for HTTPS with your newly purchased certificate, and manage automatic redirects.

3. Maintaining Infrastructure: Ensure the EC2 instance is always up and available and monitor the certificate expiration to avoid browser security warnings.

For a couple of redirects, this process is manageable. However, as the number of redirects grows with new applications, acquisitions, and mergers, the workload increases exponentially. Administrators need to maintain uptime, security, and compliance, adding to their already extensive list of responsibilities.

Offloading Redirect Management to Your DNS Provider

What if you could offload these steps and processes to your DNS provider while viewing these redirects as part of your whole DNS setup?

IBM NS1 Connect’s URL Redirect Feature offers a comprehensive solution:

• Streamlined Management: NS1 Connect provides tools for managing and configuring HTTP or HTTPS redirects, simplifying these tasks for DNS administrators. There's also a number of configuration options, allowing for all types of redirects that keep your SEO score high and marketing team happy.

• Automatic SSL/TLS Certificate Generation: NS1 Connect automatically generates SSL/TLS certificates for domains associated with source URLs, eliminating manual certificate management.

• Easy Import of Existing Redirects: Consolidate and import existing redirect configurations onto the platform, ensuring a seamless transition.

• Enhanced Performance and Security: By offloading this maintenance over to NS1’s always-available service, you ensure redirects are handled quickly and securely. Analytics for redirects are also available, giving you visibility into how many redirects took place and the ability to share that information with wider teams.

Conclusion

Offloading Redirects to your DNS provider offers significant benefits in terms of security, resiliency, and ease of management. For DNS administrators, this can be a blessing, when leveraging platforms like NS1 Connect can save time, money and reduce that ever-growing list of responsibilities. 

If you have an Enterprise account, look out for NS1’s URL Redirect feature and streamline your own DNS + URL Redirect management!