IP Address Management Tools: Best IPAM Tools for 2018

IPAM is one of the most essential tasks in Network Management. IPAM stands for IP Address Management. Every application and device on a network requires an IP address assignment to function, as we become more dependent on IP as new core services like VoIP and mobile networks become more prevalent.

IP Address Management a.k.a IPAM

The need for a robust allocation, classification and tracking of network address space becomes more critical in eliminating network conflicts and outages as a network grows and develops. This is where IPAM comes in. In this article we’ll be presenting the best IPAM tools for managing IP addresses.

Infoblox IPAM

With the Infoblox IPAM tool, DNS, DHCP, NTP, FILE distribution and IPAM are all integrated into one console. The biggest advantage of this software is the fact that it is highly scalable. Fully integrated with their industry-leading Grid technology, Infoblox IPAM provides enterprise-grade. automated core network services for public and private clouds and virtualized environments. This tool works seamlessly with high-volume databases by having the ability to export the data into a CSV file, use Excel to make modifications, save and re-import.

Some of its key features include:

• Centralized management of Microsoft DHCP/DNS servers: administer all of your Microsoft DHCP/DNS services from a single console
• IP use monitoring: identify unauthorized devices and IP conflicts.
• Role-based access control
• Audit logs
• Visual reporting

SolarWinds IPAM

The Solarwinds IPAM offers a lot of great features that can be easily integrated into existing systems. It is the best choice for mid-size organizations as it allows the monitoring of an entire address space from a single dashboard. It has the active scanning function that discovers and tracks IPv4 and IPv6 subnets and associated address blocks making it effortless to manage and deploy in networks.

Some of the other key features are:

• Automated IP address tracking. – automated subnet discovery and IP scanning.
• Integrated DHCP, DNS and IP address management.
• IP alerting, troubleshooting and reporting. Receive an alert and troubleshoot IP conflicts, depleted subnets, scopes and mismatched DNS entries.
• Multi-vendor DHCP and DNS support. Centrally manage and monitor Microsoft, Cisco, and ISC DHCP servers as well as BIND and Microsoft DNS servers.
• Integration with VMware vRealize Orchestrator. Automate virtual machine IP address management with vRO plug-in.
• API Support. Automate creation, modification, and deletion of IP addresses.

BT Diamond IP

BT Diamond IP is currently available as an appliance or as a software install. It integrates well with existing DNS and DHCP services in your network. It offers a fully-staffed managed solution making it ideal for companies with a small IT department. It’s able to support IPv6 and it has templates and extensible attributes that allows additional information to be attached to network objects and hosts. The best thing about the BT Diamond IPAM is it comes with a 24/7 tech support and it is the most affordable of all the items mentioned on this list.

Some of its key features are:

• Fully integrated IPv4/IPv6 solution that supports multi-vendor environments.
• Customizable policies and templates enable consistent application of configuration settings across multiple servers.
• Centralized management of IP address space
• Offers multi-level, hierarchical, user access that provides a high level of security.
• Reporting system provides address utilisation trending and forecasting.

BlueCat Address Manager

BlueCat Network’s incorporated software distributions of their applications allows users to run it on any virtual machine environment. It’s IPAM tool provides a user-friendly interface and does a pretty quick and accurate job of gathering all the usual data in a network such as the IP address, DNS, DHCP lease, host records and mac addresses. Mostly used by enterprises, and environments where DNS or IP configurations are constantly updated. The BlueCat Networks currently offers the Proteus™ family of IPAM appliances which features next-generation, web-based, IP address management solutions and the Adonis™ family of DNS/DHCP appliances which are end-to-end, intelligent, fast, cross-platform, secure DNS and DHCP solutions. 

Some of its key features are:

• Centralize DDI management to a single location which simplifies the management of multiple DHCP/DNS servers.
• Role-based access control which makes it easy to delegate tasks; limit access to specific IP networks, or right down to the IP address level.
• Built-in change management allowing users to create change requests that require approval before being implemented.
• Scheduled changes: plan changes ahead of time, and set them to be applied during maintenance hours.
• Identifies unauthorized devices and IP conflicts.
• Network Templates that automate default settings to simplify the deployment of new networks

LightMesh IPAM

LightMesh IPAM software has the same functionality as the other IPAM software out there but its user-friendly and sophisticated UI is the reason why it stands out from the rest. It does a very good job at presenting the data and information in an efficient and intuitive way. It’s easy to use and navigate. Currently priced at $200 per month its a simple solution for enterprise environments. LightMesh IPAM easily integrates with existing DNS and DHCP servers to provide a view of all IP, DNS, DHCP data regardless of where it resides within the network.

A few of its key features are:

• Subnet builder tool allows users to create and maintain structured subnets.
• Granular permissions structure that distributes information about and control over infrastructure end users.
• Simple API call makes it easy to allocate IP subnets with a click of a button
• Audit history with powerful analysis makes it quick to see the entire dataset.
• Easy install tools that populate and monitor data.

Men & Mice IPAM

The Men & Mice IPAM would have to be the first dedicated IPAM solution to fully integrate with Microsoft AD (Active Directory). Nothing else comes close to its advanced, intuitive performance capabilities in a Microsoft environment. Its unique core integration allows for granular and precise AD user access management from within the IPAM module. All changes made in the Active Directory are quickly reflected in the Men & Mice IPAM and vice versa through its real-time two-way synchronization. It also allows network administrators to securely add, remove, and re-assign subnets in AD while maintaining a complete audit history.

Some of its key features are:

• A global overview of all IP address data, combined with comprehensive system health monitoring.
• Custom fields for various object types can be made and automatically synchronized and reflected in the Men & Mice Suite.
• Fully integrated control between on-premise, cloud, hybrid and multi-cloud environments.
• Sophisticated GUI and web interface, combined with the automation capabilities provided by the Men & Mice API.
• Offers centralized views and integrated control, it automatically detects and prevents overlapping address space, data management conflicts and cloud platform misconfiguration.

TCPWave

TCPWave provides over 675 RESTful API calls to integrate DNS and DHCP infrastructure and it works seamlessly with many of the popular cloud offerings such as AWS, Google, DYN/Oracle and MS Azure. It’s DDI tool is specifically built to securely manage and react to real-time updates in the cloud or datacenter without having Legacy software problems that limit security and performance. TCPWave was created upon a non-BIND base which means that the IPAM methodology is somewhat different from the usual IPAM software which makes it highly scalable and adaptable to changes.

Its key features are:

• Manage DNS in various cloud-hosted platforms through a central management console
• Uses modern Java REST API
• Perform data mining by querying the database for in-house applications
• Fault management, performance management, configuration assurance and numerous reporting metrics
• Reporting system

Device42

Device42’s IPAM tool is known and recognized for handling large arrays of clustered workstations and server racks. Its auto-discovery client discovers and monitors Microsoft Windows and Linux/UNIX devices on a network including their IP and MAC Address details. It features the organization of rack-based environment which makes it cost-efficient and an easy tool to map a network.

Some of its key features include:

• Includes full IPv6 support
• Tracks VLANs and Subnet information
• Subnet range calculation and IP validation are automatic
• IP Mapping (NAT Rules) from firewalls, routers and load balancers
• DNS records are searchable and organized
• Supports A, AAA, CNAME, MX and PTR records (web hosting).

ManageEngine

ManageEngine launches OpUtils which is a web-based IP address Management tool. It provides a centralized management of the IP address space, including IPV4 and IPv6 Address Management. This tool tracks and monitors various IP address related information that a network engineer needs to administer and effectively manage a network’s address space. It features an advanced Active Directory Integration which dynamically maps IPs pertaining to computer objects. It also exercises more control through its Role-based Administration feature.

Other features include:

• Creation of a hierarchical representation of a network
• Track and audit the changes made using the IP Address Manager
• End-to-end IP subnet details scanning
• Discovering and adding subnets
• Provides IP Availability Report of the network
• DHCP Server monitoring
• Alert Notification and more

GestióIP

GestióIP is a free, automated web-based IPAM tool that stands out with its unique search engine based method network scanning. It’s easy to use and represents data simply. It provides multilingual and full IPv4 and IPv6 support. GestióIP discovers hosts, networks and VLANs through SNMP. It offers an incorporated management system for VLANs, leased/dial-up lines and Autonomous Systems (BGP). It has web forms for importing networks from SNMP enabled devices, web forms for exporting networks and hosts to CSV files making it easy to migrate from spreadsheets.

Here are a few of its key features:

• Powerful quick-search for both network and host directly accessible from every page.
• Incorporated VLAN management system
• Integrated subnet calculator
• Easy, script-based installation
• Host discovery via SNMP and DNS

Summary

Each of the IPAM tools mentioned in this article provides the same functionality and service: IP address, DNS, and DHCP management, network discovery, reporting and alerting. The key difference is in the features each of them showcased. The solution depends on your existing environment and network needs.