Why modeling overlapping IP addresses is important

Through the IP tag filters, the IP Manager is able to create IP objects in the modeled topology that represent the overlapping IP addresses that are used by locally distinct groups of systems. This capability leads to better modeling of the managed network environment, which in turn leads to more accurate correlation analysis results.

An overlapping IP address is often on a client-side physical interface of a router or switch managed by a Managed Service Provider (MSP). The MSP wants to discover the router and all of its interfaces and IP addresses, but does not want to (and often cannot) discover the client equipment accessible through the overlapping IP address. The inclusion of the overlapping IP addresses in the modeled topology allows the MSP to observe the status of the client equipment that is associated with the overlapping IP addresses, which enables the MSP to respond immediately to customer outages.

The IP Manager monitors the status of the overlapping IP addresses by periodically sending ICMP and SNMP requests to the systems on which the overlapping IP addresses were discovered.