Address allocation
The process of selecting an address or prefix from a larger pool and making it available for use. Allocation does not always mean the address has been configured on a device yet.
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Browse the glossaryIPAM glossary
63 definitions associated with IPAM.
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Page 1 of 3Address assignment
The act of associating an allocated IP address or prefix with a specific interface, device, customer, service, or purpose. IPAM systems track assignments to reduce duplication and preserve ownership history.
Read definitionAddress block
A contiguous range of IP addresses represented by a network and prefix length, such as 192.0.2.0/24 or 2001:db8::/32. Blocks may be allocated, assigned, reserved, delegated, or subdivided.
Read definitionAddress conflict
A condition in which two interfaces attempt to use the same IP address on the same logical network. Symptoms can include intermittent connectivity, ARP or Neighbor Discovery instability, and DHCP declines.
Read definitionAddress management
The policies, workflows, records, and automation used to plan, assign, reclaim, audit, and report on IP addresses and prefixes. It is broader than simply maintaining a spreadsheet of free addresses.
Read definitionAddress pool
A set of addresses available for dynamic allocation. A pool is normally associated with a subnet or link and may be restricted by policies, classes, exclusions, or utilization thresholds.
Read definitionAddress reservation
A policy that associates a particular address with a known client identity so the server consistently offers that address. Some products distinguish a reservation from a fixed address that sits outside a dynamic pool.
Read definitionAddress scope
The reachability domain of an address. IPv6 explicitly defines scopes such as interface-local, link-local, and global, while operational IPAM tools may also use scope to mean an administrative partition or DHCP range.
Read definitionAddress space
The complete set of addresses being considered, such as all IPv4 addresses, a private enterprise block, or a tenant-specific VRF. Address space can overlap when routing domains are isolated.
Read definitionAddress utilization
A measurement of how much of a network, pool, or prefix is assigned, reserved, leased, or otherwise unavailable. The numerator and denominator should be defined because products may treat network, broadcast, excluded, and reserved addresses differently.
Read definitionARIN
The Regional Internet Registry serving the United States, Canada, parts of the Caribbean, and North Atlantic islands. It allocates and registers Internet number resources within its service region.
Read definitionBogon
An address or prefix that should not appear as legitimate Internet-routed source or destination space, such as unallocated, reserved, or improperly advertised space. Bogon lists change as registries allocate resources.
Read definitionBYOIP
Bring Your Own IP, a cloud service capability that lets an organization advertise or use address space it owns through a cloud provider. It requires registry authorization, routing controls, and careful IPAM ownership tracking.
Read definitionCapacity planning
Forecasting when address pools, prefixes, DHCP capacity, or DNS infrastructure will need expansion. Useful inputs include utilization, growth rate, lease churn, query rate, and failure-domain requirements.
Read definitionCarrier-grade NAT (CGN)
Large-scale address translation used by service providers to share public IPv4 addresses among customers, commonly using 100.64.0.0/10 on the provider side. CGN complicates attribution and end-to-end address visibility.
Read definitionCIDR
Classless Inter-Domain Routing, the use of variable-length prefixes rather than legacy address classes. CIDR notation combines an address with a prefix length, such as 10.20.0.0/16.
Read definitionCloud IPAM
Address planning and lifecycle management integrated with cloud accounts, virtual networks, subnets, and interfaces. It often reconciles provider inventory with an enterprise source of truth.
Read definitionContainer
An aggregate network object used to organize or subdivide address space but not necessarily treated as a directly usable subnet. Products may call it a network container, aggregate, block, or parent prefix.
Read definitionDelegated prefix
An IPv6 prefix assigned to a requesting router for use on downstream links. The router can subnet the delegated prefix without receiving individual address leases for every downstream host.
Read definitionExtensible attribute
A custom metadata field attached to a DDI object, such as owner, environment, business unit, site, application, or lifecycle state. In Infoblox NIOS, Extensible Attributes are widely used for search, policy, automation, and reporting.
Read definitionFEC
Forwarding Equivalence Class, an MPLS concept grouping packets that receive the same forwarding treatment. It can appear in network architecture documents but is not a core DDI object.
Read definitionFree address
An address that the IPAM system believes is not assigned, reserved, leased, discovered, or otherwise unavailable. "Free" is trustworthy only when discovery and reconciliation are current.
Read definitionHigh-water mark
A configured or observed utilization threshold indicating that an address pool or resource is approaching exhaustion. Alerts should leave enough time to expand, reclaim, or redesign the pool.
Read definitionHost bits
The bits of an address not covered by the network prefix. They identify addresses within the subnet and determine the number of possible interface addresses.
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