Server Self-DHCP Address allocation

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So did that make any sense?

I've got a server running as my DHCP server on the network. Previously I've set the server to use a static IP, but Id like it to obtain its IP dynamically from its own DHCP service. Is this possible?

Also, and linked to this, Ive set the dhcp server as follows:

192.168.1.1 - 192.168.1.254 Address Range
192.168.1.1 - 192.168.1.50 excluded address list

I've then assigned specific reservations for each device with a static IP (servers, etc) within the 1-50 range. Is this the right way to set this up?? or will this cause problems?

Can anyone recommend a good book to explain DNS and DHCP as a beginner, what the settings are and what they affect. What settings do, etc?

Fergal

 

Yeah I agree with sparky, It's best to have your servers IP static. I get told that alot from a network admin I work with.

Kraven

 

Fergal,

What kind of server are you using?

 

Setting up a server to use dynamically assigned addresses is just asking for trouble... especially if it's a DHCP server. What happens when your computers attempt to renew a DHCP lease from the IP address that your DHCP server USED to have?

 

well true, but i wasnt intending for the server to be able to obtain dynamic addresses, it would still use a fixed address, reserved in the DHCP server, so would get the same IP every time.

Im running server 2k3 on a standard desktop machine.

 

My question is why?
sure its possible
no its not advised
and to be fair it doesnt serve any purpose really
some people will create the reservation in dhcp but use a static just for management reasons, but i cant imagine what reason there is to go about it that way mate!

 

fair enough. I think putting a reservation is a good idea, since if you dont theres a risk that someone wont realise its in use and try to assign it to another machine.

Ill leave it as static.

 

Generally people will have a document listing all the in use IP addresses, static ranges, dynamic ranges, global addresses, dmz addresses, nat addresses etc
theres a lot that goes into an IP design and reserving addresses in dhcp really doesnt help to manage that at a high level imho

 

Ferg, as the others have stated servers, especially DHCP servers should have static IP addresses.

Think of this scenario.. You have to re-start your DHCP server after an update, when the server gets to the point in it's boot up process when it is setting up it's network connections it will try and contact a DHCP server. The DHCP server service may not be running at this point and so it will give itself an APIPA address. This may sort itself out after the default five minutes but during that time the DHCP server will not be contactable by clients that are configured with a valid IP lease. So, things could go belly up.

The right way is to set up *exclusions* for servers ie a range that will never be dished out by the DHCP server.

Reservations are for things like printers that use DHCP but must always be leased the same address.