Skip to content

IP address management (IPAM)

Centralized IP address, VLAN & VRF management for multi-site networks

As the infrastructure grows, managing IP addresses, VLAN domains and VRFs by hand turns into a source of errors — we deploy and operate a centralised IPAM system that gives full visibility and control over your entire address space.

The problem

The spreadsheet stops matching the network

At providers and multi-site companies the address space grows fast — hundreds of subnets, hundreds of VLANs, several VRF domains for different customers and locations. Management based on a spreadsheet or a document drifts out of sync with the real network, produces duplicate or conflicting allocations, and makes onboarding a new engineer harder: they cannot see which subnet is free and which is already in use.

  • Duplicate and conflicting allocations
  • VLAN IDs repeat across sites
  • Nobody knows exactly what space is free
  • No record of who changed what, and when

What we deliver

Centralized IP address, VLAN & VRF management for multi-site networks

IPv4 / IPv6 address space

Allocation, reservation and a visual view of what is still free.

Subnet hierarchy

A master/child structure organised by location and purpose — backbone, customer allocation, management LAN.

VLAN domain management

VLANs tied to a subnet and a location, with duplication prevented across sites.

VRF management

Several routing domains — customer separation, service segmentation — documented and visualised.

Devices and locations

Subnets mapped to a specific device and a physical or logical location.

Access control and audit trail

Who created or changed which allocation, and when — plus an IPv4/IPv6 calculator and search for the team.

Architecture

Architecture

  1. 01Address spaceIPv4 and IPv6 in one record
    • phpIPAM
    • IPv4
    • IPv6
  2. 02HierarchySupernet to subnet, with room to grow
    • subnetting
    • supernetting
  3. 03SegmentationVLAN domains and VRFs, per site
    • VLAN
    • VRF
    • 802.1Q
  4. 04AllocateWith an author and a date, not in a spreadsheet
  5. 05AutomateAllocation and release are part of the process
    • REST API
    • Ansible
    • Webhooks
  6. 06AuditWho changed what, and when
    • Access control
    • Audit log
The lifecycle of an address — from the plan to the audit trail

Operator consoles

Operator consoles

These exact systems run on the group's own infrastructure — the screenshots are processed before publication.

The phpIPAM dashboard — aggregate statistics for subnets, VLANs and addresses, with usage charts.

IPAM — the address space in one system

A live phpIPAM deployment: subnet hierarchy, VLAN domains, VRFs, devices and locations in one searchable database. Only the aggregate statistics are public — customer names, individual subnets and locations are not on the frame, and should not be.

phpIPAMIPv4 / IPv6VLANVRF

Capabilities

Capabilities

Every item is marked: verified production experience, or engineering capability.

phpIPAM in production

Proven

A live deployment covering 971 subnets, 522 VLANs, over 3,800 IPv4 and IPv6 addresses, 24 devices and 8 locations — across several VRF domains, including the ISP backbone, customer allocations and management networks.

  • phpIPAM
  • IPv4
  • IPv6

Subnet hierarchy and planning

Proven

A master/child structure for backbone, customers and management networks, with free space visible.

  • supernetting
  • allocation

VLAN and VRF documentation

Proven

VLAN domains per location, and routing domains separated per customer.

  • VLAN
  • VRF
  • 802.1Q

Access control and audit

Proven

Roles, change history and accountable ownership.

Integration with automation

Capability

API-based provisioning: IPAM becomes the source of truth for scripts and workflows.

  • REST API
  • Ansible

Migration to another IPAM platform

Capability

Import from existing spreadsheets or another system, with a parallel run where that is needed.

Technology stack

Technology stack

Platform
phpIPAMREST API
Addressing
IPv4IPv6subnettingsupernetting
Segmentation
VLANVRF802.1Q
Automation
AnsibleAPI provisioning

Engagement model

Engagement model

Project

A one-off scope: audit, migration or implementation with a fixed outcome.

Retainer

Monthly engineering hours — specialist access on demand.

Co-managed

NetWizard and your in-house team together, with split responsibility.

Use cases

Use cases

ISP and telecom operators

Backbone, BGP allocations, customer subnets and VLANs managed centrally in one system.

Multi-office companies

Consistent documentation of every location's network space, without VLAN ID collisions.

Onboarding an engineer

A new person can see what is taken and what is free — without having to ask anyone.

FAQ

FAQ

Why not a spreadsheet?

Because a spreadsheet has no validation: handing out the same subnet twice is not an error in it. IPAM stops the conflict at the moment of allocation and keeps a record of who made the change.

Can it be wired into automation?

Yes — phpIPAM exposes a REST API, so a provisioning script can take an address from the system and write the result back. That is the step where documentation becomes the source of truth.

What of our data would ever be public?

Only aggregate figures — counts of subnets, VLANs and addresses. Customer names, individual subnets and locations are never published, and screenshots are processed under exactly that rule before they go up.

Tell us about your infrastructure