Whatever is the size of your organization, under current scenario network and IT are the greatest driving force behind any business and almost no organization will be able to survive without these. Every organization using any form of network to access the Internet will invariably face the issue of determining the IP address of every system that will be accessing the network.
Even though small organizations with few fixed systems might not find the issue to be too serious, the larger ones with a wide network and various systems accessing the network at different times and IP addresses being allocated dynamically have faced the error of IP address conflicting. IP address conflict happens when there are two different systems in the network having same IP address. This can arise due to a number of reasons, but certainly stalls the working and creates enormous pressure on the entire network.
How to resolve the IP address conflict issue?
To put it in the simplest terms, IP address conflict can only be resolved through allocation of different IP address to one of the systems accessing the network. When static IP addresses are assigned manually, the issue can be resolved by changing the IP address manually so that the conflict does not happen.
DHCP is used for the purpose of assigning IP addresses to different systems accessing the network in case the IP addresses are being assigned automatically. This principle is followed when IP address management software is used for the purpose of assigning IP addresses. DHCP environment is at the moment among the best ones available for giving out IP addresses to a number of systems dynamically, but repeated request or the router remaining on for too long at times creates this error.
The issue can be sorted out manually by releasing the IP address facing conflict using the command IPCONFIG/RELEASE, and then reassigning a new IP through the command IPCONFIG/RENEW. These commands should be given from the command prompt.
If the issue is not resolved by simple ‘release and renew’ operation, there is probably the problem of another system accessing the network. The device creating this problem can be identified by running Event Viewer under Windows Administrative Tools. You may also enter the command IPCONFIG/ALL to find the MAC address of the device that is causing the problem. Restarting the device will sort it out. If not, you might restart the router to get the issue sorted.
Issue of IP address conflict should never be taken lightly, especially in organizations where various sensitive data is stored in servers that can be accessed by the network. IP address conflict might just be an indication of any person trying to gain unauthorized access to the network. Having IP address management software installed will help in resolving the issue.
The IPAM will monitor all the devices in the network and authenticate and track the activity on each one. This prevents unauthorized access and compromising the network security to great extent. It also helps modern IPAM also helps avowing IP address conflict greatly.
