Lakota Local School District in Ohio was operating its Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) scheme on a separate guest network, which would handle around 15,000 student devices.

The district had previously been using a Microsoft-based solution to handle its DNS and DHCP services, but the number of devices on the network was growing, increasing the need for a more secure and robust solution – leaving the Windows server no longer fit for the job.

Network Infrastructure Manager Peter Mitchell decided to replace the servers with a redundant DHCP solution and quickly found ApplianSys' DNSBOX to be ideal, and well within the school's budget.

The district has now deployed two pairs of DNSBOX200 DHCP servers to handle its guest network, providing high availability and easy failover.

"I have worked with a Windows DNS server previously, and having used both DNSBOX and Windows, I prefer using your DNSBOXes. The interface is easy to use and very intuitive," says Peter Mitchell, Network Infrastructure Manager.

Jackson County School District needed a high-performance DHCP solution to replace Microsoft Windows servers and handle tens of thousands of devices across 14 schools.

The network was structured with separate VLANs for each school hallway, plus dedicated VLANs for phones and cameras, creating complex, high-volume DHCP demands. Ensuring fast lease distribution and eliminating Microsoft's maintenance overhead were key priorities.

After evaluating DNSBOX, the district deployed two DNSBOX 220 appliances, capable of delivering over 1,400 DHCP leases per second—far exceeding their requirements. Even in a worst-case scenario, where 36,000 devices requested an IP lease simultaneously, DNSBOX could complete the process in just 25 seconds.

The transition was seamless, with IT staff praising the intuitive interface and ease of configuration:

"It looks really easy to set up, and honestly, I think it looks great overall."

After successfully running DHCP on DNSBOX, Jackson County expanded their deployment, adding a virtual DNSBOX400 to manage authoritative DNS. This allowed them to fully transition away from Windows, consolidating both DNS and DHCP into a streamlined, purpose-built solution.

Highline School District 401, serving 11,000–15,000 clients daily, needed to modernize its network infrastructure while reducing security risks. Authentication moved to Microsoft Entra (formerly Azure AD), but DHCP and DNS still required an on-premises solution to ensure seamless network operations.

Keeping Windows Server solely for DHCP was inefficient—it required frequent patches, reboots, and security updates for a lightweight service. Any failure could disrupt classroom learning, so the district sought a more reliable, appliance-based alternative with built-in failover.

After evaluating alternatives, Highline's IT team ruled out Palo Alto firewall-based DHCP and Ruckus switch DHCP due to lack of redundancy and missing features. The district required full feature parity with Microsoft DHCP, particularly support for Vendor-Specific Option Codes used by their Aruba access points.

The district deployed a high-availability pair of DNSBOX220 appliances, ensuring dedicated, secure DHCP and local DNS services with seamless failover. Unlike Windows, DNSBOX runs as a hardened appliance—eliminating unnecessary server maintenance while maintaining full DHCP functionality.

With DNSBOX in place, Highline eliminated Windows vulnerabilities, ensured continuous network availability, and gained a simpler, more resilient DHCP/DNS solution purpose-built for schools.

Summit School District IT Manager Jim Frackoviak had been running Windows Server as a virtual machine solely for DHCP and DNS, following the standard approach for keeping DHCP onsite. However, this setup required frequent updates, security patches, and reboots, adding unnecessary complexity to a core network function. He hadn't considered an alternative until discovering DNSBOX, a dedicated appliance built specifically for these tasks.

After evaluating DNSBOX, Jim found that it provided the same DHCP and DNS capabilities as Windows Server but without the overhead of Active Directory. The system handled IP assignments and name resolution just as before but with a cleaner interface and no reliance on frequent OS patch updates or AD dependencies.

Confident that the switch wouldn't disrupt network functionality, he deployed DNSBOX as a dedicated appliance with support from ApplianSys engineers ensuring a smooth transition.

"DNSBOX is fantastic—the DNS and DHCP work great without any downtime. It's a lot easier to manage and use than Windows—very reliable, and we haven't experienced any issues. Deployment was quick and painless, thanks to your engineers."
Jim Frackoviak, IT Manager

With DNSBOX handling DHCP and DNS independently, Jim was able to decommission the Windows Server VM entirely. No more patching, rebooting, or managing unnecessary services just to keep core network functions running—everything now operates on a dedicated, streamlined appliance.

Summit is pleased with DNSBOX's performance and is happy to act as a reference for other schools considering the switch.

East Orange School District, managing 10,000+ devices across multiple school sites, relied on Microsoft Windows for internal DNS and DHCP but found it increasingly difficult to manage. Security risks were increasing, and bulk updates were slow and frustrating.

Meanwhile, the district's external DNS was outsourced, meaning simple record changes took up to a week through an ISP.

East Orange needed speed, security, and control – so it decided to bring both internal and external DNS in-house while replacing Microsoft's DHCP service.

One DNSBOX300 master and two DNSBOX200 units created a secure, appliance-based DNS and DHCP solution:

• DNSBOX200s provide local DHCP services, ensuring reliable address assignment across campuses.
• The DNSBOX300 centrally manages authoritative DNS, giving them full control over internal and external DNS records.
• "Hidden Master" Security : The DNSBOX300 stays protected behind a firewall, while the DNSBOX200s act as public-facing authoritative DNS servers—reducing exposure to DNS-based cyber threats.

Microsoft's Windows Server platform is built for broad enterprise workloads, but East Orange was using it just for DHCP and DNS—an inefficient use of resources. Unlike traditional server setups, DNSBOX's purpose-built appliance format eliminates unnecessary complexity, making deployment and management far simpler.

Sandboxed services ensure critical DNS and DHCP functions run in isolated environments, protecting against failures and security threats. With a hardened OS, automatic updates, and no excess services, East Orange now has a rock-solid, low-maintenance solution.

Whittier City School District wanted to better engage student and enhance the impact of its high-tech learning environment. All classrooms have wireless connections to the internet, an Apple TV and High Definition TVs and students at all grade levels have shared access to iPads.

With 2,300 network devices to keep connected, the district managed DHCP using a combination of Microsoft AD and MacOS servers for its subnets. But Director of Technology Manuel Plascencia was concerned: managing both simultaneously was tedious, risked errors, and offered limited overall network visibility.

He wanted an integrated solution and found DNSBOX DHCP to be ideal – and well within the district's budget. A quick demo of DNSBOX's user interface, intuitive management and helpful reporting features made for a quick decision.

Following a quick and easy migration of existing DHCP configuration, a redundant pair of DNSBOX200 DHCP servers now handle the core DHCP service – providing high availability district-wide.

Baxter Springs needed reliable, secure connectivity for more than 2,200 devices. Both school-managed and BYOD devices are used to access online learning content, so any downtime would negatively impact the classroom.

However, the district's existing Apple DNS and DHCP servers are no longer supported. With no more updates for DNS and DHCP from Apple, Baxter Springs Technology Director Ross Davies knew internet access would become insecure, slow, and at risk of failure.

Apple ceased support for DNS and DHCP in 2018, leaving many Apple-based school districts at risk, and in need of a low-cost, easy to implement, replacement solution. Like most schools, Baxter Springs feared commercial-grade solutions would be overcomplicated and wouldn't match education budgets.

Ross defined the district's needs as straightforward:

• For DNS: add local server addresses for secure LAN-side resolution of private IP addresses.
• For DHCP: assign static IP addresses based on MAC addresses, and dynamically assign BYOD addresses on the district's flat network, weekly.

Thankfully, Ross discovered DNSBOX. He instantly appreciated the easy-to-use interface, simplified administration, and advanced levels of security, and was excited to find he could deploy both DNS and DHCP on a single server.

RSU 23, serving Old Orchard Beach Schools, had been running Windows Server 2012 for DHCP and DNS, but with Microsoft ending support in October 2023, the district needed a replacement solution. Their setup also lacked failover, meaning any failure would take down network access for 1,000 devices throughout the day.

To ensure continuous availability and eliminate the overhead of maintaining a full Windows Server, RSU 23 deployed a high-availability pair of DNSBOX210s. DNSBOX's migration wizard ensured a smooth transition, preserving all DHCP scopes and exclusions without manual reconfiguration.

With the new setup, if one unit goes offline—whether for maintenance or an unexpected issue—failover kicks in automatically, ensuring uninterrupted DHCP and DNS service.

Unlike Windows Server, which required frequent updates and disruptive reboots, DNSBOX is built for stability, with simple, safe upgrades that keep maintenance to a minimum. This ensures RSU 23's network remains reliable and available without constant intervention.

Nickerson South Hutchinson's commitment to maximising technology across its curriculum has seen every student equipped with a personal Chromebook or iPad. On top of that, the district started offering BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) mobile phone access.

1,200 students and several hundred staff using school-owned as well as personal devices on and off throughout the school day, amounted to more than 4,000 active IP connections. The increased demand was outgrowing the district's core network solutions.

The switch Nickerson used for DCHP couldn't handle the large volumes of IP lease requests, and the Windows AD server was struggling to handle the thousands of internet (DNS) requests. IT Director Aaron Bell was receiving complaints of connectivity glitches – in some cases students couldn't connect, others couldn't access websites.

Aaron needed to upgrade both DNS and DHCP solutions. But with a restrictive school budget, he needed to deliver high impact at best value. Luckily DNSBOX's ultra-secure, high performance integrated DNS/DHCP solution meant he could accommodate both services on a single server – making it very affordable.

For far less than he thought possible, Aaron was able to deploy a redundant pair of DNSBOX200s – one at each of the district's separate datacentres. The district can now provide the rock-solid, high availability network service it needs, with student access safeguarded should either server fail.

With plans to transition to a Chromebook environment, Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake Central School District wanted to replace its Windows VMs to reduce its server management overhead.

But with over 10,000 devices connecting daily, IT Administrator Curtis Klopke knew that DHCP was one service he had to keep on-site and couldn't move to the cloud. He didn't want such an important service at the mercy of his internet connection or to incur additional latency, and he needed a robust and reliable solution to maintain uninterrupted access.

Curtis considered a few different options:

• The DHCP features on their existing switch or firewall were not suitable for a network of this size and it would lack the performance and control needed
• Deploying Windows hardware with DIY open-source DHCP software was another option – but this would ultimately add to his workload with frequent patching and maintenance
• He also looked at a full DDI solution, but with no real need for IPAM this would be overkill — and in fact unsuitable: too complex and costly for his requirements

After evaluating these options, Curtis decided on a dedicated DNS and DHCP solution instead. He deployed two DNSBOXes in the network core as a failover pair, to maintain high availability DHCP and Authoritative DNS services across the district's 5 schools and 2 offices.

Curtis was also very impressed with the DNSBOX's user interface — calling it intuitive, clean, and efficient. He particularly liked the automatic replication of DHCP changes. Because the DNSBOX200 failover pairs share configuration, instead of needing to manually configure each server, they never 'disagree' about the network. This feature will save him considerable time and reduce the potential for human error.

After migrating from Windows Active Directory (AD) to cloud-based Secure LDAP via G-Suite, Wesleyan Christian Academy were looking for a simple way to manage DNS and DHCP over 5 separate school sites. With roughly 1,500 devices running from two Windows servers, network administrators were concerned that the current solution was too cumbersome.

"Our applications and data were all moving to the cloud so the need to host and support AD along with a rack of servers was no longer needed. We found other methods for authentication, and all we needed was a reliable solution to provide DNS & DHCP. To date, ApplianSys products have been reliable and DNSBOX filled in the gap quite nicely," says Jonathan Ruble, IT Director.

After deploying two DNSBOX200s, Wesleyan's IT staff no longer have to keep AD servers up and running just for DNS/DHCP queries. By deploying two devices in Active-Passive mode, the academy enjoys dependable failover making its critical services even more reliable.

"DNSBOX has helped me simplify network management. In that, I did not have to keep Active Directory servers up and running just for DNS/DHCP queries. ApplianSys allowed me to remove the worry of managing 'over-featured' servers. It has been turn on and forget for the most part," explains Jonathan.

Lake Forest Academy had been using EfficientIP for DNS, DHCP, and IPAM, but the solution proved too complex and costly for their needs. Managing the system required extensive training, and support was slow to respond, often directing users back to documentation instead of providing hands-on assistance.

When their appliances needed an upgrade, the academy reconsidered whether EfficientIP was the right fit for a school environment.

The IT team wanted a simpler, more intuitive solution that still provided all necessary functionality without the administrative burden. After evaluating DNSBOX, they found it easier to use, faster to deploy, and more cost-effective—both in upfront pricing and ongoing support.

"With EfficientIP, you have to take five days of training—40 hours—before you even start using the system, at a cost of $6,000 per person!"

"Their support is designed for absolute emergencies. If you need help with everyday admin, you're on your own."

By contrast, DNSBOX required no extensive training and was fully operational within an hour. The IT team immediately noticed the difference:

• Simple, intuitive interface – Admins now log in only once a week, rather than constantly troubleshooting.
• Time-saving automation – Reduced manual admin work.
• Responsive, expert support – Faster response times and knowledgeable assistance.

"I've saved so much admin time since we got DNSBOX."

With DNSBOX now in place, Lake Forest Academy benefits from a reliable, low-maintenance solution that meets their needs without the overhead of overspecced DDI platform.