How to use an IP Address Management (IPAM) device

Many flags withe the word IP pined on a network

In small to large telecom networks, the number of IP-enabled devices is growing by the minute, making it more and more difficult for critical infrastructure/network engineers to keep up with the increasing number of IP addresses that reach all of their power and cooling system devices. In critical situations such as regional power outages, one needs to access the power and cooling system status and performance to make decisions that can impact the quality of service (QoS) of end-users.

These power and cooling systems all have diverse embedded “smart” devices connected to the corporate network and are assigned a static IP address. Static IP addresses need to be configured manually; changes to router configurations are inevitable with an “administration overhead” because you need to keep track of the IP address yourself for each device connected to the network. These devices could be and are not limited to: energy meters, automatic transfer switches, generator controllers, fuel systems, building automation systems, UPS, DC power & inverter systems, power distribution units, fire panels, CRACs, HVAC systems, and battery monitoring systems. Each smart device has its own physical communication means (serial or Ethernet), protocol (MODBUS, BACNET, or SNMP) versioning (Ascii, RTU, TCP, v1, v2c, or v3), and compliancy level to your IT security regulations.

Power and cooling devices IP Address Management (IPAM) is becoming a tedious task. In the days when fewer devices were in the network, Excel spreadsheets could be kept up to date, but not anymore. Also, today’s IT administration personnel can retrieve, remove or reallocate device static IP addresses from time to time, making remote connectivity to your critical data impossible when you need it the most.

 

How to use Multitel’s iO Gateway as an IP Address Management device

The role of the iO Gateway is to centralize IP address management tasks and aggregate the most important device data in a consistent, easy-to-access, and user-friendly interface while maintaining access to the device’s native user interface (HTTP passthrough). Besides, it increases IT security of non-secured devices connected to your network by converting HTTP to HTTPS native device’s user interfaces and converting devices SNMP v1 or v2c trap to SNMP v3 trap inform.

Using the embedded protocol conversion features, one can gain access to devices equipped with a serial communication port or devices supporting Modbus protocols.

If your business is planning or currently using public “static” or “fixed” IP addresses from specialized VPN services, you could be saving as much as 70$/year per device by simply adding a multi-device iO Gateway in your facility.

The iO Gateway provides benefits to businesses as it keeps track of IP addresses, aggregates data from diverse devices, improves IT security, enables MODBUS to SNMP protocol conversion for power and cooling managers, engineers, and technicians. The iO Gateway also facilitates today’s corporate initiatives such as data warehouse automation, energy savings, Industrial IoT, and Business Intelligence (BI) organizations aiming at aggregating massive amounts of data to support their business evolution and transformation.

Representation of how Multitrl's iO Gateway operates

For more information on the iO Gateway, visit our Protocol Conversion or Communication Protocol Security blog posts, our product page, or contact us here.

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