On Tue, May 18, 2010 at 4:24 PM, Sean Martin <seanmarti...@gmail.com> wrote: > What are some of the pros/cons of using DHCP for servers...?
For an environment like you describe, with hundreds of servers, I would recommend DHCP for all but critical network infrastructure servers. I'd use manual configuration for anything serving DHCP, DNS, WINS, or Active Directory. Everything else, DHCP, with reservations. Just to be clear: DHCP does not have to mean a dynamic IP address. You can statically assign an IP address via a DHCP reservation. And there are tools to help you do things like automatically provision the reservations, based on name or MAC address or whatever. > I've heard mention of not using DHCP to prevent DHCP broadcasts > but with a properly designed lease interval, I can't imagine the DHCP > traffic being that much of burden on today's networks.... As ME2 says, it really depends on the environment, but I would generally agree. You'll already be needing infrastructure to support DNS, prolly Active Directory, possibly WINS, Window Updates, etc., etc. If DHCP is going to push you over the edge you're already way too close to the edge. :) The one thing you *may* notice is a surge in broadcast traffic after rebooting or starting a large group of servers -- say, after a software update, or a long power outage. In general, though, you're already going to be seeing that due to ARP and maybe NetBIOS registration. So again, if this is a problem you're likely already experiencing it. The usual solution is to stagger reboot/startup. -- Ben ~ Finally, powerful endpoint security that ISN'T a resource hog! ~ ~ <http://www.sunbeltsoftware.com/Business/VIPRE-Enterprise/> ~
