| NorthStar 1.6 Documentation | ||
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Network objects are used to track the assignment of networks and sub-networks (netblocks) to a particular Location/Device/Owner object. When setting up your Network Objects you most likely want to work with a top-down approach. This approach takes the biggest netblock you have control of and works down from their allocating and assigning smaller blocks as needed. For example let's say DataBits Inc. has a netblock of 192.168.0.0/20 assigned to it from a regional registrar or their upstream provider. The network administrator may setup his Network Objects to look like the following tree:
192.168.0.0/20 (Top Netblock)
192.168.0.0/21 (Dallas POP)
192.168.0.0/24 (Customer 1)
192.168.1.0/24 (Customer 2)
.
.
192.168.7.0/24 (Local Office Use)
192.168.8.0/21 (Austin POP)
192.168.8.0/22 (Datacenter 1)
192.168.8.0/23 (Customer 1)
192.168.10.0/23 (Local Use)
192.168.12.0/22 (Datacenter 2)
192.168.12.0/24 (Local Use)
192.168.13.0/24 (Customer 1)
192.168.14.0/24 (Customer 2)
192.168.15.0/24 (Customer 3)
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Every netblock in the NorthStar system has a status associated with it. The status types are: Allocated, Assigned, Reclaim, and Blocked. Definitions of what each of these status types means are given below.
A block that has the 'Allocated' type set is a block that is open for new allocations or assignments. You can think of this type of block and a block of addresses assigned to your organization by a regional IP authority and it should have your other allocations/assignments under it.
A block that has the 'Assigned' type set is a block that is assigned to a particular set of objects and is not open for further allocations or assignments. An example of a assigned block would be a single /24 block out of a /19 block that is being used to local Ethernet access.
A block that has the 'Reclaim' type set is a block that is set to be recovered and is not open for any new allocations or assignments.
A block that has the 'Blocked' type set is blocked to any new allocations or assignments. The main use for this status type is to temporarily prevent modifications to a particular block while some action is being performed (router upgrades, routing changes, etc..)
Every netblock in the NorthStar system can have a priority number associated with it. The priority number range from 0 (Lowest) to 10 (Highest) with 5 being the default value. This priority number is used to assist the Allocation Wizard in picking the best block to assign.
To add a new block select the 'Networks' link under the 'Browse' section in the leftmost menu of your NorthStar screen. To add a new block click the '[Add Network]' link in the top right corner of the screen. To add a new block under an existing block find the parent block and then click the 'Subnet' link to the right of it.
To add a single address to a netblock click the 'Address' link to the right of the parent netblock.
To edit a block select the 'Networks' link under the 'Browse' section in the leftmost menu of your NorthStar screen. Find the block you would like to edit and click the '[Edit]' link to the right of it.
Changing a blocks status can be accomplished by editing the block and setting it's status accordingly. When setting the status of a block be sure to consider the ramifications of changing a block's status. For example if you have a block of size /19 and are using the Network Allocation Wizard to assign blocks you want to be sure to NOT set your /19 to anything other then 'Allocated'. This is because if the /19 was set to 'Assigned' you would close that block for consideration by the Allocation Wizard and not be able to automatically allocate any new blocks.
If you check the 'Update Recursively' box next to your new status type, NorthStar will change the status for EVERY block under that block, not just it's direct children. Be careful when doing this because you wouldn't want to set an entire /19 block to 'Blocked'.
Changing a blocks priority can be accomplished by editing the block and setting it's priority accordingly. When setting the priority of a block be sure to consider the ramifications of changing a block's priority. Since the Allocation Wizard uses the block priority to select the best block you can inadvertently cause new blocks to be added in the wrong place.
If you check the 'Update Recursively' box next to your new priority, NorthStar will change the priority for EVERY block under that block, not just it's direct children.
To delete a block select the 'Networks' link under the 'Browse' section in the leftmost menu of your NorthStar screen. Find the object you would like to delete and click the '[Delete]' link to the right of it.
When deleting blocks you have the option to either delete the block and ALL blocks under it or move the children of the block being deleting 'up' the tree. To delete the block and ALL children select the 'Delete' option on the confirmation page. To move the children up the tree select the 'Move' option on the confirmation page.
To add a range of consecutive blocks click the 'Range' link in the top right of the Network view screen. Enter the starting block address, stopping block address, and the mask length of the blocks to be allocated. When adding a range remember that all the new blocks will be added with the exact values that are entered on the form.
To add a range of consecutive addresses click the 'Range' link to the right of the parent Network. Enter the starting address and stopping address, and other values for each address. The 'DNS Host Name' field may use the variables listed below to help form a unique hostname by substituting various parts of the address.
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