Controlling the status of network address space
View Patent ↗Methods, computer systems, and computer readable media provide for automated control of the status of network address space. Blocks of networking address space assigned to a network may be allocated from a free status to a new status based upon a request to allocate a particular size block. Blocks of networking address space assigned to a network that have been allocated to a new status may be deallocated to return to a free status based upon a request to deallocate the chosen block. Blocks of networking address space assigned to a network that have been allocated and otherwise manipulated such as through a lend from another network may be reclaimed for the original network upon a request to reclaim the chosen block.
1. A computer-implemented method of managing a network address space defined in a definitional listing, the method comprising executing instructions on one or more computers to perform the operations of:
receiving a first request to allocate a first address for an interface of a first device, wherein the first request comprises a connection name;
in response to receiving the first request, allocating an address block from the network address space as a connection block in the definitional listing and assigning the connection name to the connection block in the definitional listing;
selecting the first address for the interface of the first device from the connection block and marking the first address as allocated in the definitional listing;
receiving a second request to allocate a second address for an interface of a second device, the second request comprising the connection name assigned to the connection block in the definitional listing; and
selecting the second address for the interface of the second device from the connection block assigned the connection name in the definitional listing and marking the second address as allocated in the definitional listing.
2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the address block allocated to the connection block is allocated from a block of addresses defined in the definitional listing.
3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the first request comprises an address type for the interface of the first device and wherein the address block allocated to the connection block comprises a plurality of addresses of the address type.
4. The computer-implemented method of claim 3 , wherein the address type comprises one of IPv4 and IPv6.
5. The computer-implemented method of claim 3 , wherein the address type is based on a definition of the interface of the first device contained in a device template specified for the first device in the first request.
6. The computer-implemented method of claim 5 , wherein the device template comprises definitions for a fixed number of interfaces of the first device and an address type for each of the fixed number of interfaces.
7. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the first request comprises a specification that the connection block is of type point-to-point and wherein the address block allocated to the connection block comprises at least two addresses.
8. The computer-implemented method of claim 7 , wherein the first address and the second address are selected from the at least two addresses.
9. The computer-implemented method of claim 7 , wherein the first request comprises an indication that the first device supports IPv4 /31 network addressing and wherein the address block allocated to the connection block comprises exactly two addresses.
10. A non-transitory computer storage medium containing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to:
receive a first request to allocate a first address for an interface of a first device, wherein the first request comprises a connection name and a device type;
in response to receiving the first request, allocate a block of addresses from a network address space defined in a definitional listing to a new connection block in the definitional listing and assign the connection name to the new connection block, wherein the new connection block defines a specific number of mutually connected addresses, and wherein the addresses of the block of addresses are all of an address type specified by a device template defined for the device type; and
select the first address for the interface of the first device from the block of addresses allocated to the new connection block.
11. The computer storage medium of claim 10 , containing additional computer-executable instructions that cause the computer to:
receive a second request to allocate a second address for an interface of a second device, the second request comprising the connection name assigned to the new connection block; and
select the second address for the interface of the second device from the block of addresses allocated to the new connection block.
12. The computer storage medium of claim 10 , wherein each address in the block of addresses comprises a status of allocated or available in the definitional listing and wherein selecting the first address and second address from the block of addresses further comprises marking the first address and second address as allocated in the definitional listing.
13. The computer storage medium of claim 10 , wherein the device template comprises definitions for one or more interfaces of the first device and an address type for each of the one or more interfaces.
14. The computer storage medium of claim 10 , wherein the device template comprises a naming standard for the first device and the one or more interfaces.
15. A system for managing a network address space, comprising:
a computer;
a definitional listing defining the network address space and accessible by the computer;
a user interface configured to allow a user to request allocation of an address for a device; and
a manager application executing on the computer and configured to
display the user interface to the user,
receive a first request from the user through the user interface to allocate a first address for an interface of a first device,
in response to receiving the first request, allocate a block of addresses from the network address space as a connection block in the definitional listing, wherein the connection block defines a specific number of mutually connected addresses from the network address space,
receive a connection name from the user through the user interface and assign the connection name to the connection block in the definitional listing,
select the first address for the interface of the first device from the block of addresses allocated to the connection block,
receive a second request from the user through the user interface to allocate a second address for an interface of a second device, the second request comprising the connection name assigned to the connection block in the definitional listing, and
select the second address for the interface of the second device from the block of addresses allocated to the connection block.
16. The system of claim 15 , wherein the first request comprises an address type for the interface of the first device and wherein the block of addresses allocated to the connection block comprises a plurality of addresses of the address type.
17. The system of claim 15 , wherein the first request comprises a specification that the connection block is of type point-to-point, wherein the block of addresses allocated to the connection block comprises at least two addresses, and wherein the first address and the second address are selected from the at least two addresses.
18. The system of claim 17 , wherein the first request comprises an indication that the first device supports IPv4 /31 network addressing and wherein the block of addresses allocated to the connection block comprises exactly two addresses.
19. The system of claim 15 , wherein the first request comprises a specification that the connection block is of type pool.
20. The system of claim 19 , wherein the first request further comprises a specification of a number of addresses to allocate to the connection block.