Who this is for
LightMesh is the system of record for network addressing across cloud, hybrid, and on-prem estates. Audit and change history on that SoR is shipped today (who changed a record, when, and what moved). That auditable foundation is the honest path toward Network Intelligence built from your own data - not a generic AI IPAM pitch and not a full Network Intelligence product ladder marketed as already shipped.
EfficientIP SOLIDserver is a capable enterprise Smart DDI platform: cloud and hybrid deployments, APIs, and automation where your team already invested. LightMesh is a focused IPAM system of record with a read-only boundary toward operational infrastructure - address intent and governance in LightMesh; DNS, DHCP, and DDI services stay on SOLIDserver when they work. This is an operating-model choice, not a modern vs legacy swap.
That fit shows up strongly in multi-campus and hybrid estates where address data diverges across sites, secondary inventories (spreadsheets, regional tools, cloud-native views) disagree, and shared SoR and audit for addressing is weak. LightMesh sits beside your DDI as the network addressing SoR and Network Intelligence path: read-only discovery to inform views, SaaS or self-hosted Docker for regulated environments, and no rip-and-replace of production DNS or DHCP.
Complement SOLIDserver (default path)
The primary promise: keep DDI services that work. Move address intent and IPAM governance to LightMesh when you want a focused SoR for planning, approval, and audit across cloud and on-prem.
SOLIDserver remains authoritative for DNS and DHCP (and the rest of your Smart DDI deployment). LightMesh is hybrid visibility, subnet and assignment governance, and the place teams record address intent before or alongside DDI workflows. SOLIDserver continues to serve zones, scopes, and services you operate today.
LightMesh does not replace EfficientIP SOLIDserver as your full DDI platform. We do not run or substitute SOLIDserver DNS/DHCP appliances, Guardian, Blast, Firewall, or SmartArchitecture roles.
Secondary path: unbundle IPAM-only
Some estates bought full Smart DDI mainly for IPAM inventory and subnet planning. The same unbundle pattern as Infoblox migration can move IPAM governance to LightMesh while DNS and DHCP stay on SOLIDserver (or elsewhere).
SOLIDserver often couples IPAM to DNS and DHCP provisioning - reservations and objects can drive downstream DDI behavior. Unbundling is an architecture decision, not only a CSV import. Inventory those couplings (workflows, integrations, and who writes what) before you declare LightMesh the IPAM SoR. That scope is IPAM only, never a claim to replace the entire SOLIDserver DDI stack.
One authority per domain
Do not run two independently writable IPAM systems of record for the same scope.
During parallel operations, DNS and DHCP authority stays on SOLIDserver. Compare exports and LightMesh views, but treat one domain, one writer for IPAM: either SOLIDserver or LightMesh holds writable address intent for a given scope, not both.
LightMesh becomes the writable SoR for address intent and IPAM governance only after you declare it - explicitly, with couplings understood. Until then, treat SOLIDserver as the operational IPAM source and LightMesh as validation and planning where you keep it read-only.
What LightMesh takes over vs what stays on SOLIDserver
| Responsibility | LightMesh | EfficientIP SOLIDserver |
|---|---|---|
| Writable IPAM / address intent (when declared) | Yes - reservations, imports, and approved writes in LightMesh | Writable during parallel ops only if you have not declared LightMesh SoR |
| Hybrid and cloud address visibility | Yes - hierarchy across cloud and on-prem | DDI-centric views as deployed today |
| Audit and change history for addressing | Shipped today on the LightMesh SoR | Per your SOLIDserver deployment |
| Network Intelligence | Path from auditable SoR data; not a shipped multi-tier NI product ladder | Out of scope for this migration story |
| Authoritative DNS / DHCP | No - never touched by LightMesh config push | Yes - unchanged unless you separately re-platform |
| Guardian, Blast, Firewall, SmartArchitecture | No | Remains EfficientIP scope where you use it |
Approved changes that define your addressing SoR are written to LightMesh once declared. Read-only discovery and ingest can inform views; LightMesh does not push config to routers, DHCP, DNS, or SOLIDserver.
Migration steps
Migration is export, map, import and validate, and parallel operations - not an automated DDI cutover.
- Export IPAM-related data from SOLIDserver using Export Reports and, where appropriate, read-only API output converted to CSV for import. Report definitions and fields vary by SOLIDserver version; validate exports against your build before you treat them as complete.
- Map fields to LightMesh custom attributes where needed. Use overlapping IP Spaces, Network Containers, and source lineage metadata when you need to preserve where records came from during transition.
- Import and validate in LightMesh - resolve overlaps, gaps, and capacity before stakeholders rely on a declared SoR. There is no native SOLIDserver importer shipped in LightMesh; migration uses CSV / XLSX (and supported bulk paths), not a one-click SOLIDserver connector.
- Operate in parallel while teams compare views. DNS and DHCP authority on SOLIDserver stays unchanged. Do not dual-write IPAM.
- Declare LightMesh the writable IPAM SoR for address intent, planning, audit, and downstream integrations when couplings are understood. Re-platforming DNS, DHCP, or other DDI roles is a separate customer decision and is out of scope here.
Step-by-step: EfficientIP SOLIDserver migration guide. See also the data migration overview. Supported paths include custom attributes, gradual adoption by zone or region, and API-key authenticated GraphQL API, published lightmesh CLI, and webhooks after LightMesh is your declared SoR.
What LightMesh does not do
- No DNS, DHCP, or router config push into production infrastructure.
- No full DDI replacement of EfficientIP SOLIDserver and no replacement of Guardian, Blast, Firewall, or SmartArchitecture where those are in your estate.
- No native SOLIDserver importer (not shipped); migration is Export Reports, read-only API to CSV, map, import, and validate.
- No MCP-as-shipped product claim on this page.
- No automated DDI cutover - migration is import, validate, and parallel ops until you declare LightMesh for IPAM governance.
- No generic AI IPAM positioning - deterministic insight from shipped audit and change history on your SoR only.
- No changes to customer production infra beyond maintaining LightMesh as destination SoR: no pushes to cloud control planes, SNMP, Meraki, SolarWinds, Infoblox, or EfficientIP appliances.
Writes after approval target LightMesh as the addressing SoR only, once you have declared that authority for the scope.
Next steps
Import a subset of your estate, validate addressing data in LightMesh, and compare parallel views before you expand scope. You get a focused IPAM SoR, hybrid address visibility, and distributed decisions beside SOLIDserver - without forcing a full DDI replacement or touching production DNS and DHCP.
Download the 5-step Switch to Simpler IPAM guide or start free.