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From: lowell@epilogue.com (Lowell Gilbert)
Newsgroups: comp.os.linux.networking,comp.unix.bsd.freebsd.misc
Subject: Re: Unix Flavors and DHCP
Date: 13 Feb 1996 16:11:01 GMT
Organization: Epilogue Technology Corp., Wakefield Mass., USA
Lines: 32
Message-ID: <LOWELL.96Feb13111101@kehleyr.epilogue.com>
References: <4fo39l$pa@uwm.edu> <4fpg67$8t5@erinews.ericsson.se>
NNTP-Posting-Host: kehleyr.epilogue.com
In-reply-to: Goran Hasse's message of 13 Feb 1996 07:55:51 GMT
Xref: euryale.cc.adfa.oz.au comp.os.linux.networking:29367 comp.unix.bsd.freebsd.misc:14183
In article <4fpg67$8t5@erinews.ericsson.se>
Goran Hasse <qdtgh@edsvhs1.ericsson.se> writes:
> In a Unix-envirnoment so many services are relying on the identity
> on the IP-interface (eg the IP-number) that you will soon run into
> REAL problem if the identity of the same interface changed all the time.
This is true. However, running DHCP shouldn't mean that the IP
address changes often. There are basically only two cases where this
would be the case: (1) if the host is down long enough that its lease
(on the the address) expires without renewal, and (2) if the server is
down long enough for the same thing to happen.
In case (1), the address change shouldn't hurt since, after all, the
machine was down for a substantial length of time in between anyway.
In case (2), you can potentially have a problem, but that's a question
of whether you're willing to spring for an extra server. Providing
long leases (an address "lease" can last as long as 2^32 seconds, over
100 years, although I wouldn't really recommend more than a few
months) will reduce this problem quite a bit.
There are plenty of cases where I can see DHCP support in a UNIX
system being a good idea. Laptop computers are only the most obvious
-- I sometimes have to change the address on *my* laptop dozens of
times per day (every time I plug it in on a different subnet).
I, for one, would be interested in DHCP client support for FreeBSD,
although I'd probably use it on my laptop and not on my desktop
machine. I'd still have to get a supported Ethernet card for the
laptop, though. :-)
Be well.
Lowell Gilbert