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Glossary

Every acronym and term used across IPCraft, defined in one place.

Address statuses

Every recorded address in IPCraft has one of five statuses. IPs with no record at all show as Available.

Assigned
The address is statically configured on a host — a server, router interface, printer, or anything with a hand-set IP.
Reserved
Set aside for future use. Nothing is using the address right now, but it shouldn't be handed out — for example, space held for a planned cluster expansion.
D-DHCP (Dynamic DHCP)
The address belongs to a DHCP pool and is leased dynamically. Which device holds it can change every lease cycle, so hostname/MAC fields are usually left empty. Mark your DHCP scopes as D-DHCP so nobody assigns a static IP inside them.
M-DHCP (Manual DHCP)
Also called a DHCP reservation: the DHCP server always hands this address to one specific device, matched by MAC address. The device gets its IP via DHCP, but the address is effectively fixed — record the MAC alongside it.
Gateway
The router address for the subnet — what hosts use as their default route (commonly the first usable IP, e.g. .1 in a /24).
Available
No record exists for this IP. It is free to assign. Available IPs aren't stored as rows; they're computed from the subnet size minus recorded addresses.

Networking terms

IPAM (IP Address Management)
Software for planning and tracking IP address space — what IPCraft is. It answers "what subnets do we have, what's in them, and what's free?"
CIDR (Classless Inter-Domain Routing)
The address/prefix-length notation for networks, e.g. 10.1.0.0/16. The number after the slash is how many leading bits identify the network; the remaining bits are hosts. A /24 has 254 usable IPv4 addresses, a /16 has 65,534.
Subnet
A contiguous block of IP addresses described by a CIDR. Subnets nest: a /16 can contain /24s, which can contain /28s. IPCraft builds this hierarchy automatically.
VLAN (Virtual Local Area Network)
A layer-2 network segment identified by a number from 1–4094. VLANs let one physical switch carry many isolated networks. In IPCraft you tag subnets with a VLAN so the layer-2 picture sits next to the addressing plan.
VRF (Virtual Routing and Forwarding)
A separate routing table on the same equipment — like network namespaces for routers. Because VRFs are isolated, the same CIDR can legitimately exist once per VRF (two customers can both use 10.0.0.0/24). IPCraft scopes duplicate/overlap detection per VRF for exactly this reason.
RD (Route Distinguisher)
An identifier like 65000:1 that keeps routes from different VRFs distinct when they share infrastructure (typically in MPLS networks). Optional metadata on IPCraft VRFs.
DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol)
The protocol that hands out IP addresses automatically. See D-DHCP and M-DHCP for how IPCraft distinguishes pool leases from reservations.
MAC address (Media Access Control)
The hardware address of a network interface, e.g. 00:11:22:33:44:55. Unlike IPs, MACs travel with the device. Recording them makes M-DHCP reservations and port-tracing much easier.
DNS (Domain Name System)
Translates names to IP addresses. IPCraft lets you record the primary/secondary DNS servers a subnet's hosts should use.
PTR record
Reverse DNS: maps an IP address back to a name. Useful for mail servers and audit trails.
RFC 1918 space
The private IPv4 ranges — 10.0.0.0/8, 172.16.0.0/12, 192.168.0.0/16 — free to use inside any organization, which is why overlaps between networks are so common after mergers.

IPCraft concepts

Folder
An optional top-level grouping for subnets — by environment, site, or team. See Core Concepts.
Utilization
The share of a subnet's usable addresses that have records. Parent subnets also show a rolled-up figure that includes their children, so a /16 full of busy /24s doesn't read as empty.
Container subnet
A subnet with Track IP usage turned off — it exists to structure the address plan (say, a /16 that designates "corp" space for its per-team /24s), not to track reservations. Containers show a badge instead of a utilization bar and are left out of dashboard usage stats; their child subnets are unaffected. See Core Concepts.
IP pool (auto-assign)
A subnet flagged as a pool, from which IPCraft can automatically pick the next free address on assignment.
Overlap types
Two kinds can occur. Duplicate: two subnets with the exact same CIDR (possible across different VRFs, or for VRF-less subnets). Containment: one subnet fully inside another without being its tree child. Because subnets are CIDR blocks, they can never partially overlap — any two either nest or are separate — so those are the only cases. The Overlaps page lists both.
Custom fields
Free-form key/value metadata you can attach to subnets and addresses — cost centers, ticket numbers, device roles.
IPCraft's passwordless sign-in: we email you a one-time link instead of storing a password.
API key
A token (prefix ipc_) for scripting IPCraft via the REST API. Keys inherit your plan's rate limits; free-plan keys are read-only.
Webhook
An HTTP callback IPCraft sends to your endpoint when resources change — see Webhooks.

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