IP Address Management (IPAM) per Customer

Brief Description

Octoja is set to implement IP address management on a per-customer basis. For each customer network, there will then be a central location that shows which IP addresses are assigned where—and technicians will no longer have to guess or scan to find out which addresses are currently available.

This applies to virtually every customer with multiple technicians and an established network. Currently, the need has become even more urgent due to the many ongoing VLAN segmentations, since the entire IP structure is being rebuilt there anyway.

Problem

For customers with expanding networks and rotating technicians, no one ultimately knows exactly which IP addresses have already been assigned. So either addresses are assigned arbitrarily or a quick scan is performed to take the next available address—both of which lead to conflicts and duplicate assignments. On top of that: gateway, DNS, DHCP server—where this information is stored varies from customer to customer and is rarely documented in one place.

Features

An automatic background synchronization: Regular IP scans of the customer’s network via the Octoja agent or designated gateway servers, plus queries of existing DHCP servers (Windows DHCP, Sophos XGS, and in some cases other vendors such as Fortinet), including reservations and address ranges.

Supplementary manual assignment.

For each subnet, the gateway, DNS server, DNS suffix (if required by the customer), VLAN ID, and the DHCP server—or its location—should be configurable.

For each manually assigned IP: device name, MAC address, and assignment date. If no actual MAC address is available, a dummy MAC address is sufficient, e.g., following the format 02:00 + VLAN + host portion.

When reassigning an address, the technician should not have to search for it themselves: The system suggests the next available address, and the technician simply confirms it.

The IP assignment screen should also be easily readable on a cell phone or tablet so that the technician has all the necessary information at their fingertips right at the computer or device on-site.

If a scan detects an IP or MAC address that is not recorded in Octoja, it is marked as “unknown” in the list.

Utilization statistics per subnet with a configurable warning threshold (suggestion: 80%), visible in the Octoja dashboard.

Scan intervals, e.g., every 4 hours, adjustable per subnet.

If applicable, a counter and date field (last seen) for each known IP address to identify dormant accounts.

Possibly to be added in the future

Access for the customer to their own IP ranges.

Report on IP subnets

Benefits

A centralized, largely automatically updated IP overview saves technicians the trouble of searching every time a new IP is assigned and prevents duplicate assignments, which currently happen time and again. It also serves as the basis for ongoing VLAN segmentation projects at customer sites.

If customers are able to access their own IP ranges themselves in the future, this would be a compelling reason to offer them Octoja access for a fee.