In NetApp ONTAP, an IPspace defines a distinct, isolated IP address space in which Storage Virtual Machines (SVMs) reside. IPspaces are the foundation of true multi-tenancy at the networking layer. By default, ONTAP includes the "Cluster" IPspace (for internal cluster communication) and the "Default" IPspace (for node management and standard data access).
When multiple enterprise tenants or external service-provider clients utilize identical, overlapping private IP address schemes (such as the RFC 1918 range 10.0.0.0/24 or 192.168.1.0/24), assigning each tenant SVM to its own dedicated custom IPspace completely segregates their routing tables and broadcast domains. This ensures that traffic from one tenant never collides with or routes to another, even when identical IP addresses and default gateways are configured on their respective data LIFs. Interface groups (ifgrps) provide link aggregation and port redundancy at Layer 2. Subnets allocate IP address blocks within a broadcast domain, and LIFs are logical IP endpoints, none of which provide isolated routing namespaces for overlapping networks.
[Reference: NetApp Data Administrator, ONTAP – Core ONTAP; Network Management: IPspaces, Broadcast Domains, and Subnets; Multi-Tenant Network Isolation in ONTAP 9., , ===============, ]
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