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    Resource · Glossary

    What Is DDI (DNS, DHCP, IPAM)?

    DDI is the integration of three core network services: DNS, DHCP, and IPAM: that together manage IP addresses and name resolution across an environment.

    DNS

    Domain Name System: resolves names like server01.dc to IP addresses.

    DHCP

    Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol: automatically assigns IP addresses to devices.

    IPAM

    IP Address Management: tracks and plans the allocation of the IP address space.

    How It Works

    Why the Three Services Belong Together

    Managed separately, DNS, DHCP, and IPAM drift out of sync: a device gets a DHCP lease that IPAM never records, or a DNS entry points at a reclaimed address. A DDI approach keeps a single source of truth: when an address is assigned, the record, the lease, and the name all update together.

    Consistent IP records across the network
    Fewer address conflicts and duplicate leases
    Faster troubleshooting from name to device
    Cleaner capacity planning for new subnets
    Auditable change history for compliance
    The Common Problem

    When IP Data Cannot Be Trusted

    In large data centers, IP records maintained in spreadsheets fall behind reality within weeks. Teams lose hours during incidents simply confirming which device owns an address. DDI fixes the addressing layer: but the physical device behind that address, its health, and its business impact still need to be connected.

    FAQ

    Common Questions About DDI

    DDI stands for DNS, DHCP and IPAM: Domain Name System, Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol and IP Address Management. The term refers to running the three as one integrated system rather than as three services that happen to share a network.

    So that an address assignment, its DNS record and its DHCP lease always agree. Run separately they drift: an address gets reclaimed while its name still resolves, or a static assignment collides with a lease the DHCP server believed was free.

    No. IPAM manages the address space itself: which subnets exist, which addresses are assigned and which are free. DDI is the integration of IPAM with DNS and DHCP so that all three stay in sync automatically.

    A spreadsheet falls behind reality within weeks in any environment that changes, and during an incident teams lose time simply confirming which device owns an address. That delay is the usual reason organizations move to managed DDI.

    It fixes the addressing layer and says nothing about the device behind the address: its hardware health, its configuration, or the business service it supports. That context has to come from somewhere else.

    Sensaka discovers devices across your networks and links each address to the asset record behind it, with the device's cabinet and U position, its configuration and change history, and hardware health read out-of-band from the BMC. An IP then resolves to a machine with a known state rather than to a row in a list.

    Connect IP records to real hardware and business impact

    Sensaka discovers devices across your networks and links each address to asset, configuration, health, and service context: so an IP is never just a number on a spreadsheet.

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