For many firms, managing thousands of IP-connected devices can be very difficult. But consider attempting to keep track of which DHCP lease is up, which IP Address is issued to each device, or when the IP has changed. This blog will explain what IPAM is, what its components are, why utilizing IPAM is advantageous, and much more.
Continue reading to learn more about why use IP address management tools.
What Is IPAM?
IPAM, or Internet Protocol Address Management, is a method for controlling IP addresses in a business setting that enables the organization, monitoring, and modification of data about the IP addressing space. This is used by a corporation for a variety of purposes, including checking for duplicate addresses and determining which address belongs to which device. This aids network administrators in maintaining an up-to-date list of IP addresses.
How Does IPAM Work?
In general, IPAM utilizes the Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP), the Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP), and local scanning. These protocols enable IPAM to obtain data from all of the networked devices. For instance, the second one we mentioned, SNMP, is responsible for gathering and organizing data on the devices used in IP networks. This is crucial for tweaking or altering a device’s performance.
Because it gathers all the necessary data using various monitoring and technical capabilities, IPAM can effectively manage the IP address range on your network.
Automated IPAM vs. Manual IPAM
No matter how big your IP address pool is, manually administering IPAM using spreadsheets is not a good method to implement. However, it might function for tiny networks that are positioned in a single geographic area. Even these can stop using spreadsheets and move to open-source IPAM solutions.
Spreadsheet-based IP address management, however, should be avoided by multinational corporations because it wastes admins’ time and increases the likelihood that they will configure the network incorrectly. Other potential risks associated with spreadsheets include potential synchronization issues, the fact that they are unreliable because only one person can edit them simultaneously, and the fact that they can only be automated if someone is constantly responsible for the creation and upkeep of the code.
Furthermore, large businesses have a huge number of devices connected to the network, making an automated IPAM solution always more practical than a manual one.
Benefits of Using IPAM Solutions
- It makes administrative tasks easier
Several IP space management administrative activities, such as configuring DHCP settings and creating DNS entries, are automated and made simpler by IPAM. Additionally, it enhances cross-platform visibility of IP resources, real-time updates, automation of DNS-DHCP configurations, built-in reporting, and the efficiency of data collecting.
- It Offers Less Complexity
IPAM uses a single, centralized repository to store IP address space data from RIR to simplify IP address administration (Regional Internet Registry). Using this method, network managers can find networks to learn more about various connected hosts as well as control both public and private IP address plans.
- It Makes Reliability Better
Growing networks can cause misconfigurations, overlapping subnets, and IP address conflicts, which can negatively affect the organization’s overall network and add to the workload of network administrators. By requiring Fully Qualified Domain Names (FQDN), IPAM decreases network service downtime, enables speedier troubleshooting, and reveals a domain name’s precise position in the DNS server hierarchy.