Static Vs Dynamic IP Addressing

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Hi,

We are managing a large LAN/WAN & considering alternatives to SNA, like TCP/IP.

What pro’s / con’s are there between Static & DHCP.
One of our senior engineers is arguing that Static is “simpler” – I am not convinced.

Pls. advise me.
Thanks,

m.q.

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> One of our senior engineers is arguing that Static is “simpler” – I am not convinced

The most important questions in this context are

• How many stations on the LAN
• What operating systems are you running
  [/list]If you have 2 or 3 systems running old software then static IP addresses may well be easier, if you have dozens of systems and workstations running Windows then DHCP is simpler, if you have hundreds then DHCP is essential.

  StuartR

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I have to agree with Stuart there.
Using non dynamic IP addressing for larger amounts of machines will very likely get you in an overhead of a relatively manual administering and keeping track of ip addresses. DHCP allows you to administer ip ranges, and not really worry about single machines.
In case you need (for some reason) static IPs for certain machines there are possibilities to also handle those through dhcp.
For testing purposes I have a DHCP server running on my router in my home lan. In that case the setup was not very difficult as there are only very few machines there but it is very practically in case I come by with a laptop and need to get it hooked up to the internet:
– plug it into the switch
– boot (the laptop has some problems with sleep mode or else I wouldn’t have to reboot either)
=> network + internet

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