Your Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) server already knows what’s connected to your network. The problem is that DHCP data rarely stays aligned with the rest of your infrastructure systems.
Instead, it becomes fragmented across Windows servers, branch offices, spreadsheets, and disconnected operational tools. Lease data ages, assignments go untracked, and teams lose confidence in their network inventory.
The new LightMesh Windows Discovery Agent bridges that gap by connecting Microsoft DHCP directly to LightMesh IPAM, helping keep your IP inventory current without manual reconciliation.
The LightMesh Discovery Agent setup screen
Why LightMesh Built the Agent
Discovery of private address usage is increasingly important to network engineers managing capacity and modeling usage patterns for growth planning. Additionally, security teams need up-to-date IP assignment and associated network architecture data for responding to alerts in SIEM platforms, automating responses through SOAR systems or enabling modern XDRs.
The convergence of these needs along with the industry shift towards TDIR (Threat Detection, Investigation, and Response) makes accurate infrastructure context increasingly critical to modern IT operations and the AI-powered tools organizations now depend on every day.
As a company, Tidal continues to embrace the philosophy of modular integration points for data acquisition and infrastructure visibility. The Windows Discovery Agent release represents the first step toward a broader discovery and synchronization framework inside LightMesh, designed to create an automatic, configurable API integration layer between your datacenter, office networks, and IPAM platform.
The LightMesh Discovery Agent dashboard
LightMesh is tackling DHCP integrations first based on direct customer demand to solve three very real challenges in enterprise DHCP environments today:
- Thousands of scopes and active leases across multiple servers
- Distributed branch infrastructure with constant lease activity
- Data fragmented across systems, spreadsheets, and workflows
That fragmentation is exactly what the Windows Discovery Agent is designed to address.
Modern lease detail drawer showing the scope and essential details for IP 10.60.56.37
How the Windows Discovery Agent Works
The agent runs within your environment and securely connects Microsoft DHCP services to LightMesh IPAM.
Discovery Agent sync history in LightMesh
It continuously synchronizes lease and scope activity in the background so your IP inventory stays aligned with what’s actually happening on the network, without manual reconciliation.
The agent supports both IPv4 and IPv6 environments and continuously updates as lease activity changes throughout the day. It also supports Windows Server Core deployments, allowing teams to collect and synchronize DHCP data from headless server environments without requiring a desktop interface.
Because this happens automatically, your team spends less time manually reconciling DHCP records across disconnected systems.
Ready to deploy the Windows Discovery Agent? See the LightMesh DHCP Windows Discovery Agent Setup Guide for installation and configuration instructions.
What the Agent Synchronizes
Data flows into LightMesh in near real time, including:
- DHCP scopes and leases (IPv4 and IPv6)
- Hostnames, MAC addresses, and lease timestamps
- Source DHCP server metadata, lease history, and assignment updates
When a device reconnects or changes IP addresses, your team can quickly see where the lease originated, when it changed, and which subnet it belonged to — without cross-checking multiple systems.
Own More Accurate Network Data
Reliable IPAM starts with reliable inputs. The LightMesh agent gives your IPAM live DHCP context it can trust.
Cleaner records. Faster response. Infrastructure context your teams can actually depend on.
Where LightMesh is Headed
The Windows Discovery Agent is the foundation for broader infrastructure discovery inside LightMesh.
DHCP integration is the first capability shipping through the framework. Over time, the same approach is designed to extend into DNS synchronization, SNMP discovery, and broader infrastructure intelligence.
The direction is clear: fewer scattered records, more trusted context, and a more connected way to manage network infrastructure.
DHCP synchronization is planned for release in June 2026. Next week, we’ll take a closer look at how the new integration helps teams maintain a reliable source of truth for IPAM and lease activity.
Bring your network infrastructure into focus with LightMesh.