Sensible IPAM part 1: IP Conflict Resolution

Today we´re starting a five blog series about sensible IPAM for your scattered network resources. IPAM is used by network administrators to gather critical network connectivity information such as the size and location of subnets, routers, IP address host names, IP address spaces and the related integration with DNS and DHCP servers.

Each part of this blog series about IPAM presents real-world problems that we have years of experience in solving. This week’s focus is on Conflict Resolution and then next week we´ll talk about scaling your IP infrastructure and what happens when new resources need to be added to your network.

Addressing IP overlaps and DNS conflicts

Imagine that you are a:

• CIO with several geolocations whose company is in the middle of an acquisition, but you are lacking a core network management solution.. You're looking for a solution that would be a good fit for the merged environments.
• CTO of a solutions provider for companies. One of your customers, operating two data centers and building another for cloud services, needs an IPAM solution that can bridge between on-premises and cloud.
• Consultant, advising with a project involving the merger of two environments. You're looking for a single automation platform that can resolve the issues arising from overlapping network spaces.

The number one obstacle is resolving conflicts between services, applications, network environments and geolocations, at the IP address, DHCP and DNS levels. Conflict resolution increases network security, network efficiency and availability

What You Need

An overlay solution deployed on top of your IP infrastructure. A complete overview of every asset you have, and an automated way of resolving and preventing existing conflicts between them.

At the first step you need an easy way to analyze data from across network components. Longer term, one that helps ensure that new IP address assignments, DNS zones, and DHCP scopes are not created without cross-checking for conflicts throughout the entire network environment, including your on-prem, cloud and multicloud.

How Men&Mice Can Help

A software-based and API-driven solution, Micetro by Men&Mice was developed to simplify core management of IP infrastructure in heterogeneous environments.

Software-based means nominal performance impact on your hardware and cloud resources, and easier deployment because there are no physical appliances to implement. Micetro works on top of any environment(s) you have without impeding performance or disrupting operations.

API-driven design creates convenient ways to manage and automate your DHCP, DNS, and IP Address Management. It also collates various platforms into a single control mechanism through a central interface. The Micetro by Men&Mice boasts a backend-agnostic API that plugs into network components seamlessly.

You and your team can reduce project time and cost significantly by more quickly identifying overlaps and conflicts, which are visible in Micetro, as well as more quickly identifying means for resolving them. Resources, be they related to DNS, DHCP, or IP Address management, can be replaced, upgraded, or expanded without the need to start over from scratch. Plus, with Men&Mice, you can capitalize on and migrate to/from whichever best-in-class cloud services make sense for you (Azure, AWS…).

Reach Out

We'd love to hear your suggestions for what kind of IPAM related content you would like to see from us. Alternatively, if you're looking to get started with your IP address Management (IPAM), you can sign up for your free trial! The beauty of an overlay is that you can install it completely risk-free.