Multi-Grid management provides the tools you need to view and manage the entire network space of your enterprise through the Master Grid. The Infoblox IPAM (IP address management) implementation of the Master Grid offers a network-centric approach so you can track and manage network usage in each Grid that is managed by the Master Grid. Through Multi-Grid Manager, not only can you manage IPAM/DHCP/DNS objects, but also re-direct to individual Grid through SSO (Single Sign On) to perform IPAM and other DNS and DHCP tasks. To perform SSO navigation, select the IPAM/DHCP/DNS objects and click the open icon which redirects you to the NIOS Grid. SSO re-direct supports containers and networks for IPAM/DHCP objects, and DNS views and zones for DNS objects. For information about IPAM, DNS, and DHCP, refer to the Infoblox NIOS Administrator Guide at https://docs.infoblox.com.
In Multi-Grid Manager, you can visualize IPv4 and IPv6 networks of all Grids or selected Grids managed by the Master Grid in a map or list view. The map view provides an overview of the network spaces of the managed Grids, and the list view gives an alternate hierarchical view of all the corresponding networks in table format. Through these views, you can evaluate the number of networks each Grid has, their relative sizes, and the network spaces you have left for each Grid. You can also identify overlapping networks across multiple Grids and decide whether you want to adjust or resize the networks in those Grids. Based on the information, you can decide whether to add and delegate a network to a managed Grid or Grids. When necessary, you can customize a map view to display specific networks of specific Grids that you select, and then save the map for future use.
In the map view, Multi-Grid Manager displays network blocks to represent individual network spaces. A network block can contain other network blocks, network containers, and leaf networks. For information about network blocks, see About Network Blocks. In this view, you can use the zoom function to magnify or reduce a network block to view its contents. You can also access the corresponding Grid of each network through SSO without logging in to the Grid each time. For information about SSO, see Viewing Validated Users.
You can do the following in the Data Management tab of Multi-Grid Manager:

• View your IPv4 and IPv6 networks of all managed Grids in the Master Grid. For information, see Viewing IPv4 and IPv6 Network Maps and Viewing IPv4 and IPv6 Network Lists.

• Create IPv4 and IPv6 networks and delegate them to a managed Grid or Grids. For information, see Adding IPv4 and IPv6 Networks.

• Resize an IPv4 network that is not currently managed by a Grid member. For information, see Resizing IPv4 Networks.

• Use the zoom function to magnify or reduce specific network spaces. For information, see Zooming In and Out.

• Create custom network maps of specific Grids they you want to manage. For information, see Managing Custom Network Maps.

• Manage DNS Views and DNS Zones, see Managing DNS Zones.

• Manage DHCP data, see Managing DHCP Data.

• Restrict synchronization of network views, network containers, and networks with the Multi-Grid Manager. For information, see Restricting Synchronization.

• Restrict synchronization of DNS views and zone with the Multi-Grid Manager. For information, see Restricting Synchronization on DNS View and Restricting Synchronization on DNS Zone.

About Network Blocks

Multi-Grid Manager uses network blocks to group IPv4 and IPv6 network blocks, network containers and leaf networks in the Map panels. A network block is a block of networks that can contain other network blocks, network containers, and leaf networks. A network container is a parent network that contains other network containers and leaf networks. A leaf network is a network that does not contain other networks. For example, the following Figure 7.1 illustrates the IPv4 20.0.0.0/8 network, which is a network block with two network containers, 20.8.0.0/13 and 20.72.0.0/13. The 20.8.0.0/13 network container has two leaf networks, 20.8.0.0/16 and 20.9.0.0/16. The 20.72.0.0/13 network container has one leaf network, 20.72.0.0/16.

Figure 7.1 IPv4 Network Block

From Multi-Grid Manager, you can use the Zoom In function to drill down to the two network containers, 20.8.0.0/13 and 20.7.0.0/13, in the network block 20.0.0.0/8 , and then continue to drill down to the corresponding leaf networks. For information about the zoom function, see Zooming In and Out.