5 Things to Know About IP Address Management Systems

IP Address Management System-Need of the hour

IP addresses such as 192.168.1.1  are necessary for two devices to communicate and hence are an essential part of any network. They are mostly a series of numbers that uniquely identify the devices present in the network or on the Internet.

IP addresses are required for various applications, databases, and other technological advances, hence managing all these IP Addresses is very important. Here, the IP Address Management system comes into use. Put merely, IPAM is a means to track, organize, and manage the Internet Protocol address space used in a network.

With the help of an IPAM software, administrators can ensure that the repository of assignable IP addresses stays updated. IPAM is necessary for any organization's network since the network involves hundreds and thousands of devices, and a proper system needs to manage it. The first step would be acquiring a safe and secure IP Address, such as10.0.0.138, before moving onto further information.

Benefits of having IPAM solutions

There are four main reasons why an IPAM system is necessary for an organization:

• Capacity Planning

If the address space is not managed well, you can run out of IP addresses. If you are not able to track the address space accurately, it will forestall you can face the issue of scalability and would limit your ability to grow business. With the addition of more and more IP addresses, IPAM helps manage them.

• The Growing Use Of Ipv6

Nowadays, there is a growing transition from IPV4 to IPV6. An IPv6 utilizes a 128-bit address, whereas IPv4 contains a 32-bit address. The additional complexity of IPv6 implies that while an administrator may have once been able to remember an IPv4 address, an IPAM tool is a necessity to track all the IPv6 resources.

• Resource Management

Since there are only a limited number of IP resources which are available, a system is needed for organizing IP address space. IPAM systems can be used to track and manage your IP addresses, which will, in turn, avoid issues like IP conflicts, which can cause severe problems for users. IPAM solutions make managing the available resources easy.

• To Obtain The Necessary Information

Network administrators give importance to the IP address space and the resource assigned to each IP address. With the help of an IPAM system, administrators can obtain the required information about a resource, for example, hostname, device type, physical location, etc. In this way, alerts can be sent, and reports with needed information can also be generated quickly.

IPAM Role In Security And Compliance

When a question of security and compliance comes, IPAM can be helpful. These systems make it easier to identify potential breaches or misuse of infrastructure on time. IPAM can give information about the devices to which the suspicious IP addresses are assigned and other information like, users associated with the device with the suspect IP address.

IPAM also plays an important role when it comes to compliance.

Relevant internal policies can be enforced using IPAM systems along with a network access control (NAC) system. For example, the IPAM system, along with NAC, can help determine if your antivirus software is up to date, which is very important for the security of the system.

If regulation requires that logs are to be maintained by the systems, giving all network-related information when needed, the IPAM data can help generate system logs to establish and maintain compliance with the regulation.

IPAM In The Age Of IoT AND BYOD

With the advent of technology, interconnected things are available for everyone, from everywhere, at all times. Bring Your Device (BYOD) has enabled employees to use their devices to access the company's applications. This has, in turn, given rise to increased mobility and incorporated a newer form of business on the go.

IoT, on the other hand, has given rise to the concept of devices connected to external networks.

While these advancements in science and technology are essential, they can also give rise to many challenges that need to be addressed. Owing to these technologies, employees carry their smartphones, tablets, wearable tech, which connect to the Internet.

This increases the complexity of tracking and managing IP addresses. IPAM can be used successfully to address these challenges and help address these issues.

Points To Consider Before Opting For IPAM Solution

Now that you've been wondering which IPAM solution to choose, it is essential to note that choosing a perfect IPAM system ultimately depends on an organization's structure and needs ie, the size of the organization and network, the number of devices within a network, etc. Your IP Management tool should support:

• Ease of Use:

The first factor you would like to consider is the ease of use and not very complicated. If the system is easy to use, then the performance of the task is going to become faster and a lot more efficient.

• Ease of Integration:

The IPAM solution you choose should be easy to integrate with your current network systems (e.g., DNS, and DHCP). Improper synchronization of the systems can cause errors to occur.

• Cost Efficient:

Cost is also an important factor to consider, Important thing to note is that the more you pay, the less is the training and maintenance required. Some of the top IPAM tools to help enterprises with various IP address tasks such as SolarWinds IP Address Manager, BlueCat IPAM, Infoblox Trinsic.

Lastly, for the business to grow and be scalable, IPAM is an essential solution to be considered. It is the need of the hour, and companies should consider these as a critical part of their environment.