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IBM NS1 Connect Managed DNS and Traffic Steering for AWS Workloads
IBM NS1 Connect Managed DNS offers DNS management and traffic steering for optimized performance. Enhance your DNS Strategy today.
IBM NS1 Connect is a managed authoritative DNS and traffic steering service for AWS, multi-cloud, and hybrid environments, operating on a global anycast network with 26 PoPs across 6 continents and a 100% uptime SLA for DNS resolution, using real-time data from Amazon CloudWatch and application health signals.
Reviews (100)
Sanchit Makkar
Intelligent global traffic steering has improved reliability and reduced latency for users
Reviewed on Sep 28, 2026
Review provided by PeerSpot
What is our primary use case?
IBM NS1 Connect serves as our managed authoritative DNS and traffic steering service, which is highly reliable, and its performance is excellent for a global Anycast network.
For a specific example of how I'm using IBM NS1 Connect in my environment, we use it as our public recursive servers. All our internal traffic, when it wants to reach out to the internet, is sent to our NS1 servers, which in turn handles the DDoS and the DNS security layer. It also delivers the global server load balancing services for our enterprise.
Regarding how it fits into my overall infrastructure, IBM NS1 Connect is a key platform that allows our users to resolve public DNS queries.
IBM NS1 Connect integrates with our existing IT infrastructure seamlessly because whatever queries users generate internally within our customer environment are easily sent over DNS ports. It allows DNS over HTTPS, which provides DNS security while sending logs and queries from internal to external servers, evaluating and receiving data over the Anycast network for reliability and low latency.
How has it helped my organization?
IBM NS1 Connect has impacted my organization positively by helping us intelligently filter the chain of highly custom real-time routing based on our geographic proximity, with server health and network latency being strong. The real reliability and uptime of the global Anycast service are 100%, which we really appreciate.
We have seen high reliability and uptime and low latency due to Anycast availability, and the redundancy of the server is also highly available across geographic locations.
What is most valuable?
The best features IBM NS1 Connect offers include GSLB and Geo-steering services, which help to reduce latency, directly impacting revenues. It also has modernized GSLB services, which help to reduce the data center footprint by load balancing the DNS traffic across different data centers.
Geo-steering impacts my operations by helping with real user measurement for NS1 Maps, where it maps a user's geographic location and the local ISP network condition. Then it helps to steer them to the specific CDN edge or the provided data center, offering low latency at the exact millisecond. With the help of GSLB, I use it to route traffic to a distributed data center, minimizing for the high availability and disaster recovery scenarios.
IBM NS1 Connect also offers high uptime Anycast infrastructure, which is very useful.
The level of automation available in IBM NS1 Connect includes automated alerts and support for API REST V2 integration, which can be tuned and utilized as per consumer or customer needs.
IBM NS1 Connect supports disaster recovery and business continuity in our organization through the GSLB feature, which supports multi-data center routing technology. We can host our application wherever our presence is, supporting disaster recovery situations and automated failover scenarios with 99.99% uptime.
IBM NS1 Connect helps with performance monitoring and reporting. I find the analytics and dashboards quite useful in noticing and monitoring the query count and the number of queries being handled per zone.
What needs improvement?
IBM NS1 Connect has a very steep learning curve in terms of learning the custom filter chains and the complex multi-region setup, which requires a specialized DNS expert and can be difficult for beginners. One has to get trained on IBM NS1 before starting to use it.
The documentation and the interface could be improved, as a step-by-step video configuration guide would be helpful in new implementations. Daily change audit features and easier rollback options should also be provided in the GUI itself.
The dashboard and the GUI have gray areas for advanced tasks, which require API interaction and can be overwhelming for beginners.
For how long have I used the solution?
We have been using IBM NS1 Connect for the last two years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
IBM NS1 Connect is highly stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
IBM NS1 Connect handles scaling as our organization grows very well. It is easy to use because when the user queries for an AI app or NS1, real user measurement health signals steer traffic to the data center or cloud instance with low latency and optimal GPU availability. It also performs similar to Netlify, using NS1 with a low TTL capability to propagate DNS updates globally in under five seconds, which is highly commendable.
As a SaaS solution, IBM NS1 Connect is highly scalable, with the DNS server infrastructure behind the Anycast solution being highly scalable.
How are customer service and support?
Customer support for IBM NS1 Connect is good.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We did not use any other solution aside from IBM NS1 Connect.
What was our ROI?
We can see a return on investment as we need only a few engineers to manage the global scalability and internet domain, conducting web application hosting using NS1.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
We did not evaluate any other options before choosing IBM NS1 Connect.
What other advice do I have?
Regarding IBM NS1 Connect's AI capabilities, I think its governance and security are great as it's a SaaS-based solution, and the governance is also good.
While we haven't had a very close connection with IBM NS1 Connect for its AI capability, it does not support any such module. However, whatever is done in the backend to provide DNS services is good.
IBM NS1 Connect is deployed in our organization as we are consuming the service as a software-as-a-service (SaaS) solution.
For this SaaS deployment, we use IBM Cloud, a private cloud.
For those considering using IBM NS1 Connect, I advise being prepared for a complicated web GUI for daily zone management and complex traffic sharing. Sometimes, you need to use API-based integration, which can be overwhelming and may require support from NS1 support, so one has to be very careful about the implementation of basic day-to-day configuration.
I would rate IBM NS1 Connect a nine on a scale of one to ten.
Yasser K.
Next-Gen Managed DNS with Fast, Reliable Global Routing
Reviewed on Sep 27, 2026
Review provided by G2
What do you like best about the product?
IS highly regarded for its next-generation Managed DNS capabilities and its ability to handle complex, high-traffic global routing with exceptional speed and reliability.
What do you dislike about the product?
The platform's most powerful capabilities, such as advanced Filter Chains and custom traffic-steering policies, are notoriously complex. Teams without extensive, specialized DNS expertise often struggle to configure them effectively.
What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?
IBM NS1 Connect solves critical challenges in network management by moving beyond static Domain Name System (DNS) rules to provide intelligent, real-time traffic steering, high availability,
SHREYA B.
User-Friendly, High-Performance DNS—But Setup Takes Some Learning
Reviewed on Aug 22, 2026
Review provided by G2
What do you like best about the product?
What I like most about IBM NS1 Connect is its user-friendly interface, reliable DNS management, strong performance, and its ability to efficiently monitor and manage DNS traffic. Overall, it makes day-to-day DNS operations simpler and much more manageable.
What do you dislike about the product?
The initial setup and configuration can feel a bit complex for new users, and some of the more advanced features may require extra learning or technical know-how. Clearer, more guided documentation and simpler configuration options would help streamline the process and improve the overall user experience.
What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?
IBM NS1 Connect simplifies DNS management by offering centralized control, reliable traffic routing, and clearer visibility into DNS performance. With these capabilities, it reduces manual effort, improves availability, and helps me respond more efficiently when DNS-related issues come up.
Rushikesh S.
Intelligent Traffic Steering and API-First DNS Automation with IBM NS1 Connect
Reviewed on Aug 20, 2026
Review provided by G2
What do you like best about the product?
What I like most about IBM NS1 Connect is its intelligent traffic-steering capability. It goes beyond traditional DNS by using real-time performance, availability, and geographic data to route users to the best-performing endpoint. I also appreciate its API-first approach, which makes it straightforward to integrate with DevOps and infrastructure-as-code workflows, and to automate DNS management.
What do you dislike about the product?
The main area I’d improve is the learning curve for advanced configurations. Features like Filter Chains and traffic-steering policies are powerful, but they can take time to fully understand and set up effectively, especially for new users. A more intuitive UI, along with clearer, beginner-friendly examples, would make onboarding smoother and help users get value faster.
What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?
For me, the main benefit is improved application reliability and performance. It provides better visibility into DNS and traffic behavior while making it easier to automate and manage traffic across distributed infrastructure.
Anonymous
Enhances DNS Management with Flexibility and Control
Reviewed on Aug 20, 2026
Review provided by G2
What do you like best about the product?
I like that IBM NS1 Connect gives me good control over DNS and traffic without making things too complicated. It helps me manage DNS and traffic routing without having to handle things manually, making it easy to control where traffic goes, maintain availability, and quickly adjust things when there are changes. This provides me with more flexibility in how traffic is handled and makes DNS management feel easier to manage. The initial setup was pretty easy, and once it was configured, it was easy to manage. Overall, it saves time and offers better control over traffic.
What do you dislike about the product?
Honestly, I think the main thing that could be better is the ease of use. It has a lot of features, but it takes time to understand everything and how to use the more advanced options. A simpler interface and better guidance would make it easier, especially for someone who doesn't work with DNS stuff every day. Other than that, I think it's good.
What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?
I use IBM NS1 Connect for DNS management and traffic routing, improving reliability and performance. It solves manual DNS handling, saving time with better control and flexibility over traffic, making routing easy and management flexible.
Julio M.
AI-Powered Performance That Delivers
Reviewed on Aug 19, 2026
Review provided by G2
What do you like best about the product?
The software because use IA for perfomance.
What do you dislike about the product?
The analytics but you guys can improve it
What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?
The storage
Accounting
Easy to Use and Great for Connecting with Others
Reviewed on Aug 17, 2026
Review provided by G2
What do you like best about the product?
It’s easy to use, connect, and engage with others.
What do you dislike about the product?
Could be sometimes confusing to people not familiarize with it
What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?
It’s been beneficial for me and has solved everything related to connecting users with the best server for them.
Brianne K.
Reliable, Intelligent Traffic Management with Powerful Automation
Reviewed on Aug 13, 2026
Review provided by G2
What do you like best about the product?
What I like best about IBM NS1 Connect is its reliability and intelligent traffic management. It gives you a lot of control over how traffic is routed while helping maintain fast performance and uptime. I also really like the automation and monitoring capabilities, which make it easier to identify issues and keep everything running smoothly. Overall, it feels like a powerful, dependable solution that can scale well as your needs grow.
What do you dislike about the product?
The main thing I dislike about IBM NS1 Connect is that it can have a bit of a learning curve, especially for users who are new to advanced DNS and traffic management. The platform offers a lot of powerful features and customization, but it can take some time to fully understand and configure everything effectively. A more streamlined interface and additional beginner-friendly guidance would make the onboarding experience even better.
What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?
IBM NS1 Connect helps solve problems around DNS reliability, application availability, traffic management, and performance. Its intelligent traffic steering and monitoring capabilities make it easier to route users to healthy, high-performing endpoints and respond quickly when issues occur. This benefits us by improving uptime, reducing potential disruptions, and providing better visibility and control over our network performance. Overall, it gives us more confidence that users can consistently access our applications quickly and reliably.
Andrei C.
Straightforward DNS Control and Flexible Traffic Management with NS1
Reviewed on Aug 12, 2026
Review provided by G2
What do you like best about the product?
I like that NS1 gives me good control over DNS and traffic while keeping things fairly straightforward. The performance and flexibility are especially useful when managing different environments.
What do you dislike about the product?
The interface can take some time to get used to, especially when working with more advanced DNS and traffic configurations.
What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?
The integrations are useful for connecting it with our existing tools, and the overall value is good when you consider the reliability it provides.
Jashawne J.
Makes Getting a Lot Done Easy—Turns Beginners Into Pros
Reviewed on Aug 11, 2026
Review provided by G2
What do you like best about the product?
It’s way easier to get a lot done it helps in major ways it’s the future it literally can take someone with no experience and make them a pro
What do you dislike about the product?
I wish that it was more updated with reality and csn thibk for it self instead of just using information that humans feed if
What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?
Yes it’s benefiting me in major ways because it knows way more then me