In this lesson,
we're going to cover IP address management.
Now, in our modern enterprise scale networks,
it's important that we properly manage
our IP addresses efficiently
as part of our ongoing processes and procedures.
Now, in order to do this at scale,
we're usually going to rely on automation and orchestration
within the IP address management process.
IP address management, also known simply as IPAM or IPAM,
is a methodology and suite of tools
that's used to plan, track, and manage
the IP address space inside of your network infrastructure.
Now, whenever you're using a DHCP server on your network,
you are already conducting an automated method
of assigning and configuring IP addresses
to all of your clients.
Yes, this is technically IP address management,
but it's only one small part
of this entire process known as IP address management.
Now, when you really think about IP address management,
you have to think about all the things that it encompasses,
including the comprehensive management
of your organization's assigned IP address space,
including the tracking, planning, and managing
of the network's address inventory.
Now, back in the old days,
the IP address management functions
were usually conducted manually
by relying on things like spreadsheets
and a whole lot of human intervention.
However, with the scale and complexity
of modern cloud-based networks,
we now have to use automation and orchestration
to perform IP address management,
'cause all of our older manual approaches
simply cannot operate fast enough
to meet our increasingly demanding needs.
So instead, we're usually going to be
using integrated IP address management
inside of our networks by using automation
and orchestration functions
to transform this process into a dynamic tool
that not only oversees the allocation of IP addresses,
but also ensures that each device's addresses
are going to align
with the overall network policies and architectures.
By using IP address management,
we're going to be able to create a systematic
and error-resistant method of managing vast pools
of IP addresses inside of our enterprise networks.
Now, these automated systems
are capable of detecting and resolving IP conflicts,
ensuring that two devices are not being assigned
the same IP address on that network,
and this helps to maintain the integrity of this network.
Now, our automated IP address management systems
can also be configured to seamlessly interact
with our DHCP and DNS servers
to provide a more cohesive management of our IP addresses
by ensuring that each component is aware of
and working in sync with the others on the network.
This integration is critically important
if you're going to be using horizontal cloud scaling
where new virtual machines are being automatically added
and removed from your network
to support the changing demands from your users.
This way, anytime you have new virtual machine
that's added into your network,
it's automatically going to be assigned a new IP address,
and that IP address will also be associated
with the host name
inside of your organization's internal DNS server too.
Now, most IP address management solutions
are also going to include comprehensive reporting features
that you can use as a network administrator
to get a deeper understanding of the network's performance,
to detect anomalies,
and then plan for any potential network changes
or expansions in the future.
IP address management also is going to be used
by our cybersecurity teams to understand what devices
have been allowed to connect to the network,
what IP addresses they're using
while they're connected to the network,
and other things like that.
Another security function provided
by the IP address management system
is its ability to help us identify any unauthorized devices
or suspicious traffic patterns
that are based on the different devices
that are requesting IP addresses
from your centralized management system.
So remember, when it comes to IP address management or IPAM,
what we're really talking about here
is the methodology and a suite of tools
that are used to plan, track,
and manage the IP address space inside
your organization's enterprise network infrastructure.
Now, IP address management isn't just about adopting
a new tool though, but it's also about a strategic shift
in managing the foundational elements
of our enterprise networks,
so that we can enhance our network's efficiency, security,
and resilience in the future.