AWS Certified Advanced Networking – Specialty (ANS-C01)Network DesignMedium

A global company has a complex network architecture with hundreds of VPCs spread across multiple AWS Regions and accounts. They need a robust and scalable solution to manage IP addresses, prevent overlaps, and centralize the allocation of CIDR blocks to new VPCs. The solution should also integrate with their existing on-premises IPAM system for hybrid cloud consistency. Which AWS service is explicitly designed for this purpose?

  1. AAWS Resource Access Manager (RAM).
  2. BAmazon CloudWatch for IP address monitoring.
  3. CAWS IP Address Manager (IPAM).
  4. DVPC Flow Logs with custom Lambda functions.
Show answer & explanation

Correct answer: C. AWS IP Address Manager (IPAM).

AWS IP Address Manager (IPAM) is a VPC feature that provides centralized IP address management. It allows organizations to plan, track, and monitor IP addresses across their AWS environments, prevent overlaps, and integrate with on-premises IPAM systems for hybrid consistency.

Why the other options are wrong

  • A. AWS Resource Access Manager (RAM) shares AWS resources between accounts, not for IP address management.
  • B. Amazon CloudWatch monitors metrics and logs, but does not manage or allocate IP addresses.
  • D. VPC Flow Logs capture network traffic information, not IP address management or allocation.

AWS IP Address Manager (IPAM)

A feature of Amazon VPC that makes it easier to plan, track, and monitor IP addresses for your AWS workloads.

  • Centralized IP address management across accounts and regions.
  • Automates IP allocation and prevents overlaps.
  • Integrates with Route 53 Resolver for hybrid DNS.

Memory trick: IPAM is the master librarian for all your IP addresses, on-prem and in the cloud.

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