Using Insight’s network domain name, and avoiding using its addresses, can prevent user access issues. Recently, some network addresses and associated proxies were changed for Insight, related to a data center move to improve service uptime, performance and cost effectiveness of the platform. After, some users and campuses reported issues accessing both Tableau and Redshift, Insight’s two primary components. As you know, Insight has a growing amount of sensitive data, and network security is one of the multiple layers used to safeguard it. So while the access issues are in some ways a good thing and show that the network security is working, in some cases they can be avoided.
Networks resolve addresses for a service such as Insight in two primary ways: by it’s (fully qualified) domain name, such as insight.northcarolina.edu (or FQDN in network-speak), or by its internet (IP) address(es) such as 152.4.21.17, or 152.4.145.1. Data center moves, cloud service changes, or network reconfigurations will change the latter, and network architectures can create aliases or proxies for these addresses, which if referred to and later changed, can cause access issues. A domain name such as insight.northcarolina.edu typically persists longer than it’s underlying addresses, and through address changes. For certain software applications or network service configurations, network engineers and in some cases users can choose between specifying the domain name, or the address, for the Insight service. For example, firewall rules set up by a network engineer, or virtual private network (VPN) laptop configuration rules.
If you have a choice, we suggest wherever possible, use the domain name insight.northcarolina.edu, and avoid using its addresses. It’s not always possible, but it can insulate users and campuses from unexpected access issues due to network or data center changes. Although we plan for these as carefully as possible and try to communicate them well in advance, sometimes the unexpected happens.
As always, if you experience access or other issues, or have any questions, comments or concerns about Insight, please email insight@northcarolina.edu.
The Insight Team
