Pokka Sapporo

The Customer

Pokka Sapporo Food and Beverage was established through the merger of Pokka Corporation and Sapporo Beverage in January of 2013. The company manufactures and sells beverages such as Chelate Lemon and Pokka Coffee, and foods such as the instant soup series Jikkuri Koto Koto. In addition, the group’s companies in Japan run food-related businesses such as the coffee-shop chain Cafe de Crie and ice-cream parlor Foremost Blue Seal. The group has also expanded overseas with an overseas production base in Singapore.

The Challenge

Before the introduction of Infoblox products, Pokka Sapporo used Windows-based servers for DNS and DHCP. For public-use DNS servers, the company had been using BIND installed on Linux. Because a small IT staff managed all internal and external servers, the company was exposed to security risks. In addition, only a few staff members understood Linux well enough to configure and manage it, so they didn’t have time for DNS management tasks. When those employees were transferred, the IT team began to think about switching to easy-to-use, inherently secure dedicated DNS/DHCP servers. When the lease expired on the legacy system, they made their move.

The Infoblox Solution

Instead of simply a DHCP server, the IT team was looking for a product that could be used as a dedicated DNS server as well. They narrowed down the list of potential candidates to the few products that could serve as dedicated DHCP machines with DNS server functions as well. The list included Infoblox products, which had an extensive track record of being used as dedicated DNS/DHCP appliances in Japan.

An Infoblox team delivered a product presentation and explained the merits of dedicated machines in terms of application management and security, as well as the advantages of using Infoblox Grid™ technology, which is capable of updating multiple servers all at once.

The company’s top management gave its consent, and IT began the project to introduce Infoblox products. Although the team was aware of the operational merits of using Infoblox products in DNS operations, they ultimately decided to use them mainly for DHCP applications because of the company’s internal network configuration.

Infoblox 1050 appliances were initially introduced in Tokyo and at the company headquarters in Nagoya for DHCP use. Subsequently, Pokka Sapporo purchased an additional unit for the Kanto region to accommodate expansion. At first, only the appliances in Tokyo and Nagoya were operated and managed in a Grid configuration, but the extra unit in Kanto was later added to the Grid.

Pokka Sapporo is now using the Infoblox solution to manage terminals that pay out IP addresses dynamically in DHCP operations and terminals that assign fixed IP addresses in special applications such as printers. The number of IP addresses managed at all the locations is about 1,500.

Infoblox products installed in three more locations will enable the system to continue to operate even in the event of a disaster in any one of the locations, because the Infoblox Grid will immediately begin to pay out IP addresses from appliances at unaffected locations.

The Results

Since Pokka Sapporo switched over to Infoblox, problems that had sometimes occurred with the Windows server have been eliminated, and it has become possible to pay out IP addresses to any terminal. Jurisdictional constraints that had been caused by using a domain controller in addition to a DHCP server for a Windows server-based system have been eliminated as well.

Since it was possible to migrate fully to an Infoblox-based management system from the previous Windows-based environment, the operation and management of IP addresses is now easier. And by using Infoblox Grid technology to connect Infoblox products scattered across three locations in Nagoya, Tokyo, and the Kanto region in a network configuration, the IT team can carry out version control of multiple products in batches. With an integrated, web-based graphical interface, they can also more easily monitor network settings and usage status at all locations. IP addresses also became easier to monitor.

As network administrators may not be present in some locations, Infoblox products can be easily operated and managed from a remote location using Grid technology. Furthermore, by using a component called Infoblox IPAM Express, IT staff can understand the replication of IP addresses and network-related problems at a glance and avoid trouble.

For more information, please contact your Infoblox representative or visit www.infoblox.com