IP address management (IPAM) lets customers manage DNS and IP address data at an enterprise-wide level, delivering unified management, monitoring, and administration while providing for appropriate levels of centralized auditing and reporting.

The Infoblox IPAM module has taken a fresh approach to IP address management (IPAM). Specifically, Infoblox has combined today’s state-of-the-art technology for data management (a distributed database) and today’s state-of-the-art vehicle for delivering network services (purpose-built appliances) to provide the first and only integrated DNS, DHCP, and IPAM appliance. Unlike both new and legacy IPAM systems—that are add-ons to a data delivery infrastructure—the Infoblox approach to IPAM can be best summed up as “built-in, not built-on.”

By taking a unique approach, Infoblox provides several key features that greatly benefit customers and are not readily available in competing IPAM systems, including a rich IPAM feature set, redundancy for all components of the system, seamless software upgrades, single-click disaster recovery, real-time reporting, robust data management, and lower deployment and management costs.

Integrated IP Management Console: : Within a single GUI screen, administrators can search through all of their IP networks and can sort based on parameters such as IP address, MAC address, usage status, device type, and location thereby simplifying many common IP management tasks. And because the IPAM functions and the real-time DNS and DHCP services operate from the same database, all information is guaranteed to stay in sync even in the most dynamic environments.

Address History Tracking:Enables administrators to better plan, manage, and meet compliance requirements through reports based on IP address status (dynamic, static, available, and reserved/disabled), hostnames, MAC address, and DHCP lease information (including lease date/time, time left on lease, time of last renewal, and forced release of IP address).

Dynamic Address control: Allows administrators to use DHCP to deploy new devices on the network, such as a printer, without having to manually configure the device’s network settings. Once the device is configured on the network, the administrator can change the address from “dynamic” to “fixed.”

Device classification: Administrators can classify each device using a rich set of pre-defined types (such as desktops, laptops, routers, servers, printers, etc.) along with custom device types that can be defined by the user. Each device type, whether pre-defined or user-defined, provides fields for common information such as device location, owner, manufacturer, and model as well as custom fields that may be defined by the administrator to meet the unique needs of the organization.

IP Address Status Viewer and Threshold Alerting: The viewer displays the number of static and dynamic IP addresses in use and the percent utilization. High and low watermark thresholds can be set for each network in an enterprise, and e-mail alerts and SNMP traps tied to these thresholds can be used to signal when ranges need to be increased or re-allocated.

IP Address Status Viewer and Threshold Alerting: The viewer displays the number of static and dynamic IP addresses in use and the percent utilization. High and low watermark thresholds can be set for each network in an enterprise, and e-mail alerts and SNMP traps tied to these thresholds can be used to signal when ranges need to be increased or re-allocated.

Network Templates: Templates enable automation and enforcement of corporate standards when new networks are provisioned. They include all parameters of a network such as fixed addresses, dynamic IP address ranges, and DHCP options. This allows a company to “clone” the same configuration when performing large-scale provisioning tasks such as branch and retail store roll-outs.

Global Search: Allows the user to search the entire database of objects including dynamic data such as DHCP leases and DDNS hosts with results windows that allow objects to be edited or modified directly from the search results.

Recycle Bin: The Grid Manager places all administrative deletions in a recycle bin file that allows an administrator to recover the deletion in a few clicks. Recycle bin is especially useful if an admin makes an inadvertent deletion of a large amount of data.

Data Consistency Checking: The Infoblox Grid Manager software automatically performs multiple levels of data consistency and checking. With the Host object, the administrator can keep DNS forward and reverse zone records in sync to avoid inconsistent zone data. IP addresses are checked dynamically as they’re entered and administrators are alerted to errors and prevented from entering invalid data.
The IPAM module is available in the software packages illustrated in the following chart: