On Apr 6, 2012, at 4:23 PM, zxq9 <[email protected]> wrote: > Do you mean there are serious networks that use DHCP by default for systems > other than transient network guests residing in their own little subnet (like > laptops)? And server IP assignment by DHCP... I can't believe this is really > done, or am I being naive about naivete?
I do exactly that. It puts all the IP addresses in one place - much less likely to end up with a conflict than with people manually configuring things. I've dealt with too many admins typoing IP addresses, gateways, DNS servers, etc. Sure there are some problems, but the additional effort isn't a big deal. Plus you already need DHCP on your network segments with servers so that you can netboot, kickstart, etc. DHCP means that my kickstart scripts can configure a box such that I can start the kickstart and return in 10 minutes to a box that has network connectivity. The less I have to type into the box by hand (and which isn't under version control), the more reliable my network becomes! It also means if I pick up a server and move it to another site, or if I change the VLAN it is in, a simple reboot is all it will take to make it at least reachable. I generally don't use DHCP on network devices (routers, switches, firewalls, DHCP servers). But everywhere else is fair game. I also find it easier: one configuration on every server for networking. The less manual configuration, the better. Sure, I have to add the server's MAC to the DHCP server mappings (I assign STATIC addresses to servers, not dynamic ones!). But that's it.
