IP Address Management

Timothy Rooney, Michael Dooley

• Publisher: Wiley-IEEE Press
• Year: 2020
• ISBN:
  9781119692300
• Edition: 2
• Topic: Computer Science
• Subtopic: Computer Networking
• Index: Computer Science

Rediscover fundamental and advanced topics in IPAM, DNS, DHCP and other core networking technologies with this updated one-stop reference

The thoroughly revised second edition of IP Address Management is the definitive reference for working with core IP management technologies, like address allocation, assignment, and network navigation via DNS. Accomplished professionals and authors Timothy Rooney and Michael Dooley offer readers coverage of recent IPAM developments in the world of cloud computing, Internet of Things (IoT), and security, as well as a comprehensive treatment of foundational concepts in IPAM.

The new edition addresses the way that IPAM needs and methods have evolved since the publication of the first edition. The book covers the impact of mainstream use of private and public cloud services, the maturation of IPv6 implementations, new DNS security approaches, and the proliferation of IoT devices. The authors have also reorganized the flow of the book, with much of the technical reference material appearing at the end and making for a smoother and simpler reading experience.

The 2nd edition of IP Address Management also covers topics like such as:

• Discussions about the fundamentals of Internet Protocol Address Management (IPAM), including IP addressing, address allocation and assignment, DHCP, and DNS
• An examination of IPAM practices, including core processes and tasks, deployment strategies, IPAM security best-practices, and DNS security approaches
• A treatment of IPAM in the modern context, including how to adapt to cloud computing, the Internet of Things, IPv6, and new trends in IPAM
• A one-stop reference for IPAM topics, including IP addressing, DHCP, DNS, IPv6, and DNS security

Perfect for IP network engineers and managers, network planners, network architects, and security engineers, the second edition of IP Address Management also belongs on the bookshelves of senior undergraduate and graduate students studying in networking, information technology, and computer security-related courses and programs.

Part I
IPAM Introduction

This opening Part I of this book introduces IP and IPAM basics, providing an overview of IP networking, IP address structures and formats, IP addressing techniques, name-to-IP address resolution, and various uses or applications of IPAM technologies.

1
Introduction

There is no Internet without the Internet Protocol (IP). IP sets the rules for communicating among Internet connected devices and serves as the foundation for every Internet app. IP is not only the protocol for the Internet but is the de facto enterprise network protocol as well. This chapter introduces the basics of IP networking and motivations for managing IP addresses within your own network.

IP Networking Overview

Each party engaged in a communication, whether two people speaking or two computers exchanging information, must comply with a set of conventions that govern the rules of such communication. Language and culture generally guide such conventions for human conversation. A protocol defines these conventions for computers. And it's usually easier to get computers to comply with these conventions than people! A protocol dictates the sequence and syntax of communications as well as recovery mechanisms required in response to error conditions. There are actually several protocols or protocol layers that facilitate computer communications, each providing a specific set of functions to support a level of commonality for communicating over a variety of media. We'll delve more into this later in this chapter, but let's start out with a simple analogy to human communications to introduce the key aspects of IP addressing and why address management is important for those who manage IP networks.

When two people converse, one person may initiate the discussion in one of many ways: by physically approaching the other and speaking, calling him or her on their mobile, sending him or her an instant message, and so on. In each of these scenarios, the initiator of the conversation identifies and locates the intended recipient, then attempts to begin a conversation using the chosen medium. When I want to talk to my friend Steve for example, I can look up his number on-line or in a phone book, dial his number, and when he answers the phone, I can identify myself and begin the conversation. At a basic level, IP communications follows a similar process. When an IP device seeks to communicate with another, it must identify and locate the intended recipient, then initiate communications over a link, while also identifying itself to the recipient in the process.

Perhaps the best, though admittedly trite, analogy for IP communications is that of postal letter delivery. Nevertheless, let's consider this process of “sneaker mail,” then relate it to IP communications. The basic postal delivery process is depicted in Figure 1.1, beginning with me writing a letter to Steve and communicating it via postal mail.

After writing my letter, I enclose it in an envelope. This is step 1. Next, I write my return (From) address and Steve's (To) address on the envelope, and stamp it to pay my postal service provider. At this point, I'm ready to mail it, so step 3 consists of depositing my letter in my outgoing mailbox. After my mailperson picks up my letter, the fourth step entails forwarding of the letter within the postal system to the local post office serving Steve's address. After the letter has been delivered to the post office or distribution center serving Steve's address, a local delivery mailperson drops the letter in Steve's mailbox. When Steve walks out to the mailbox, he can open the letter and read my letter. Message delivered!

Let's map this postal message flow to sending a message over an IP network, referring to Figure 1.2. In this case, we're communicating electronically over the Internet, though this analogy holds whether communication ensues over a private enterprise, broadband, wireless, or home IP network or a combination thereof. Just as Steve and I have postal mail addresses, we both need IP addresses to communicate with each other over the Internet. No one else in the world has the same mailing address as Steve; likewise, no one else in the world has the same IP address as Steve (technically this isn't necessarily true when IP addresses are translated between me and Steve, but let's go with it for now). Let's assume that each of our computers is configured with its respective IP address and that I know Steve's IP address.

Figure 1.1 The postal delivery analogy.

Figure 1.2 Internet protocol communications.

Step 1 entails the creation or typing of my message to Steve. In step 2, my computer, knowing my IP address and Steve's, places my message within a data packet, or specifically an IP packet. An IP packet is simply the message to be communicated (including upper layer headers), prefixed with an IP header. The IP header, like our letter envelope, contains my (From) source IP address as well as Steve's (To) destination IP address, among other fields. Having formulated my IP packet, I'm now ready to send it. From my home network, I have a broadband router, to which my computer transmits my IP packet as step 3. This transmission may occur over a cable or a wireless connection between my computer and the router.

In step 4, my router forwards my IP packet to the Internet via my broadband service provider (no stamp required, they'll bill me later). Devices in the Internet called routers forward my IP packet ultimately to Steve's broadband service provider and the broadband router in his house. Routers examine each IP packet's header information to determine where to forward the packet to reach its destination IP address efficiently. Having been delivered to Steve's broadband router, step 5 consists of forwarding the packet to Steve's computer, whose IP address matches the IP packet's destination IP address field. In step 6, Steve's computer strips off the IP header to yield the message I had typed. Message delivered!

In both postal and IP communications, the source and destination addresses ar...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Table of Contents
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Preface
• Acknowledgments
• About the Authors
• Part I: IPAM Introduction
• Part II: IPAM Mechanics
• Part III: IPAM and Security
• Part IV: IPAM in Practice
• Part V: IPAM Reference
• Glossary
• Bibliography
• Index
• End User License Agreement