“iTunes Of IP” Eases Address Management

“Most people manage IP addresses in a spreadsheet,” said Brett Eldridge, vice president of product marketing at Infoblox, a company which makes devices that automate network tasks such as DNS server management.

Spreadsheets are really not a good tool for this, as they are not updated in real time, and they don’t keep an audit trail or ensure addresses are valid, said Eldridge, speaking at the NetEvents industry gathering in Barcelona, before the Mobile World Congress.

“The management cost per IP address goes up, as the number of addresses increases. Companies want to delegate complex tasks to helpdesk personel – but they have to give them the tools to do it,” he said, announcing Infoblox’ IP Address Management Module.

“This is like the iTunes of IP addresses,” said Eldridge, explaining that managing addresses in a spreadsheet is now as outdated as organising a music collection using casette tapes. The product visualises the whole network, and lets users dynamically move IP addresses on a dashboard. It parses the addresses, so IT staff don’t assign invalid or reserved IPs, and allows users to group addresses in “smart folders” making future re-organisations easy.

Infoblox has recently done a deal with Cisco to release its earlier DNS and DHCP product as a software module on Cisco’s phenomenally successful ISR branch router. “We’re happy  to run on any other vendors’ equipment, as it extends our footprint,” said Eldridge.