How long does it take you to provision IP address network resources?
Typically, a network administrator needs around 45 minutes for network provisioning—possibly more if a Regional Internet Registry (RIR) needs to be updated—and has to flip between spreadsheets, ticketing systems and different departments (especially if waiting on dependent services like DNS or DNSSEC).
For most network operations today, that’s no longer practical. There are too many network devices involving too many address changes to keep up with at this snail’s pace. And with address allocation assigned dynamically through DHCP and SLAAC, spreadsheets become a liability in these challenging environments. Every time an administrator fails to keep up and correctly enter an address, or misconfigures a DNS zone record, the door to a potentially large-scale network disruption is unwittingly opened.
There is a better way. Automated network provisioning software completes the task in under 3 seconds— over 180 times faster. Even better, the software is virtually error-free, drastically reducing your risk of a service failure. And since errors caused by manual provisioning are time-consuming to correct, the productivity gains go well beyond the time saved assigning addresses.
With the right network provisioning software in place, it takes less than 5 mouse clicks to deploy IP address network resources and only requires a minimal knowledge of network infrastructure technology:
- First click: Select the type and size of IP block you want to assign.
- Second click: Click the “get my block” button.
- Third click: Select the record to edit/add any notes, VLAN or circuit information and so forth.
- Fourth click: This one’s optional, but if you’re a service provider you might want to update the WHOIS data with the RIR. This too can be accomplished with one click.
- Fifth click: Depending on your policy, you may want to email the IP resource information to an end-user department or contact. The right software provides the email templates built-in, so you don’t have to leave the tool, and this is also done with a single click.
The best software solutions also provide functions such as auto-subnetting, which simplifies configuration issues and eliminates common problems such as double assigning the same IP address, and address block tracking, which can replace ad hoc address assignments based on immediate operational requirements with address allocation policies based on service priorities. The software should also provide comprehensive support for IPv6 and DNSSEC.
So . . . how long does it take you to assign a block of IP addresses?