DHCP in Windows Server 2003

DHCP in Windows Server 2003

D ynamic        - Means that clients IP address may change

H ost             - Indicates that this is a system for clients, e.g. XP machines

C onfiguration  - A clue that you are in charge of the options, e.g. DNS Server

P rotocol         - The rules controlling the flow of packets between client and server

Tutorial for DHCP in Windows 2003

• Benefits of DHCP - How to save effort
• Strategies - Client and Server
• DHCP - Install and Configure Options
• Relay Agents
• APIPA - When all else fails
• DHCP - User Classes
• DHCP - Database, Backup, Reconcile and Audit
• Troubleshooting

Benefits of DHCP

All clients and servers need an IP address on a TCP/IP network.  How will you configure those dotty dot numbers on your TCP/IP property tabs?  Manually, or automatically via DHCP?  Let us investigate what advantages an automatic DHCP service has over the manual alternative.

• DHCP needs much less effort - manual configuration is boring and labour intensive.  Above all, DHCP options give a sense of central control.
• Easy to update a default gateway or DNS server's IP address.  Manual changes would be a nightmare, you would have to visit every machine.
• No IP duplicate addresses.  Provided you configure the DHCP scopes intelligently, there will never be another 'Duplicate IP address' problem to eat into your valuable time.

Learn more about DHCP. As an MCT trainer, I can thoroughly recommend TrainSignal because they provide practical hands on training.  In particular, I like the way TrainSignal cover all learning methods, instructor lead, video and of course text material.  With TrainSignal you can either take one module, for example DHCP or go for a combination of modules.  See more about DHCP here

Strategies for the clients and servers

10 years ago, when I first saw DHCP, I thought that you would need one DHCP server on each subnet - wrong.  What I now recommend as a default, is two DHCP servers for the whole company.  For those subnets without a DHCP you configure a DHCP Relay Agent.

If you have two DHCP servers, then provide redundancy by splitting each scope so that each DHCP server gets a non-overlapping range.  For example:

Server A: 10.10.56.1 to 10.10.56.120
Server B: 10.10.56.121 to 10.10.56.254.

Each scope has a class C Subnet Mask /24 (255.255.255.0)

Strategies for the servers

What are you going to do about the IP addresses for the servers themselves?

• Configure static IP addresses, then EXCLUDE a range from the scope.
• Select static IP addresses, but use a different range.
• Choose DHCP configuration, even for file and print servers. (Except the DHCP server itself.)

If you try the strategy of DHCP address for file and print servers, consider a RESERVATION for each server.  Slowly I am warming to this DHCP idea, the killer advantage is that you can set DNS and Router options even for the servers.  Let me elaborate, if you set server IP addresses manually, but then you change the default gateway, you may forget to change the servers default gateway.  The result would be a loss of what ever service the servers were providing.  However, if the servers have a reserved IP address then they come under the umbrella of your scope options and so there would be no extra work, and no loss of service.

Monitor Your Network with the Real-time Traffic Analyzer

The main reason to monitor your network is to check at a glance which of your servers are available.  If there is a network problem you want an interface to show the scope of the problem immediately.

Even when all servers and routers are available, sooner or later you will be curious to know who, or what, is hogging the precious network's bandwidth.  A GUI showing the top 10 users makes interesting reading.

Another reason to monitor network traffic is to learn more about your server's response times and the consumption of resources.  To take the pain out of capturing frames and analysing the raw data, Guy recommends that you download a copy of the SolarWinds free Real-time NetFlow Analyzer.

Summary

DHCP is now a well established strategy for providing computers with IP addresses.  However, it is full of surprises and hidden treasures, take the time to develop your DHCP tactics, then explore the properties of both the DHCP server icon and the scopes.  I have a series of tutorials to help you.

Related DHCP Server topics

• Benefits of DHCP - Saves Work
• DHCP Strategies - Client and Server
• DHCP - Install and Configure Server Options
• DHCP - Relay Agents
• APIPA - When all else fails
• DHCP - User Classes
• DHCP - Database, Backup, Reconcile and Audit
• DHCP - Troubleshooting
• Performance Monitor Tool

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