Preface

Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) provides a means of allocating and managing IP addresses dynamically over a network. Before the advent of DHCP, administrators configured each host on a network with an IP address, subnet mask, and default gateway. Maintaining the changes and the logs of the changes took a tremendous amount of time and was prone to error. DHCP uses a client/server model in which the network information is maintained and updated dynamically by the system.

This book discusses DHCP in a Windows 2000 environment. It provides an introduction to the DHCP protocol and shows how to implement a DHCP server into the network. It also covers the more advanced features of DHCP.

The book begins with an overview of the TCP/IP protocol suite and shows how DHCP coexists with the rest of the TCP/IP suite. It identifies DHCP’s predecessors, RARP and BOOTP, and explores the reasons that DHCP was developed. DHCP design considerations are discussed, as well as the different methods of deployment. The book shows how to install and configure DHCP servers in routed and non-routed environments and how to configure a client to use DHCP. It also discusses how to administer a DHCP server in Windows 2000 using DHCP scopes, options, and leases. Finally, the book covers DHCP’s close relationship with Dynamic DNS, as well as some of the future directions for DHCP.

Conventions Used in This Book

The following conventions are used throughout this book:

Italic: Used for URLs, filenames, email addresses, and new terms when first defined.
Constant width: Used in examples to show the contents of files or the output from commands.
Constant bold: Used in examples to show commands or other text to be typed by the user.
Constant italic: Used in examples and command syntax definitions to show variables for which a context-specific substitution should be made.