[kwlug disc.] setting up a system

[Joe]

>    A few weeks back, there was a  discussion of how best to set up a 
> system for IP's and machine names. (IE-set each individual machine, set
>    up DNS, etc.)
>
>    Recently I reset my entire system up based on getting a new router 
> (A d-link DI704).  That router has something in it called static DHCP 
> which  works quite nicely.
>
>    Starting with an existing system, it will capture the IP's, MACS, 
> and machine names of the existing system. Once captured, they can be 
> cloned, and set as static. The router then re-assigns the same IP to 
> the same  MAC address's on boot. I have been quite happy with the way 
> it works,  and with the caveat that everything is sitting in your 
> router, it seems to work well.
>
>    I notice the router has a menu entry that allows you to dump the 
> values to disk, but have not played with that yet. The same solution 
> might work well for others.
>
>    Donald
The same DHCP 'fixed lease' functionality where the server leases ip 
addresses based on client mac addresses also exists via a user friendly 
GUI in the following products I've used: openwrt and dd-wrt 3rd party 
firmwares for Linksys WRT54G routers as well as ipcop & smeserver for 
physical or virtual machines. I haven't used the D-link product you 
mentioned but the linksys router stores the values in flash memory so 
power loss shouldn't affect the stored values.

I prefer to turn the DHCP server off on the router and use ipcop with 4 
NICs installed since it allows segregation of local networks which is 
particularly important to me if using a wireless access point. pfSense 
looks even more promising with its incoming load balancing pools & 
traffic shaping features although I haven't got as much experience with 
it yet.

If you're interested in learning more about how DHCP works this link may 
prove to be useful: 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dynamic_Host_Configuration_Protocol