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2 dhcp servers on same network

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dpw666

Technical User
Apr 4, 2002
14
GB
Hi

I am wanting 2 different subnets on the same physical network with a different dhcp server for each subnet. I cannot use mac addresses as the machines are changed too often on both networks.

Can anyone help ?

Thanks

Dave

 
Any particular reason why you want 2 DHCP servers? You can use one for both subnets and setup a DHCP relay from the other subnet to acquire addresses.
 
we have a site with 2 companies at the moment sharing everything. Company A wants there own everything apart from network kit. Cant disconnect the network due to another link being used.

Thanks for any help


Dave
 
Hi,

I strongly advise you not to put more than one DHCP server on your network. Adding more than 1 generates huge trouble, and it's usually hard to debug.

Sharing IP adresses shouldn't be an issue , since you're already sharing a cable ... Why would users want to know their IP adresses anyways?

I guess the users in your network authenticate. Create 2 separate domains, 1 for each company, then add each machine to it's company's domain. The domains will be visible , but each company's data will be separate and unaccessbile by the other. This will also allow you to keep a unique IP address on your inernet router.

Or you can try WIFI ...

Good luck

 
I am honestly puzzled? I'm not posting this just to disagree with sibawe2000, I would like to know the reason (other than generates huge trouble) why he strongly advises against more than one DHCP server.
 
Hi,

I see at least 2 reasons:

1/ if your client sends a DHCP request, he'll receives 1 answer per DHCP server. If he's smart, he'll drop the second and above. If he's not ... If the second or above DHCP server are stubborn, he'll resend the answer another time, ... not good

2/ Each DHCP will reserve his address to the client... not good. if your DHCP servers are somehow linked to DDNS servers, your host might even get a host entries with a non-existent ip addresses

I had such a conflict 2 weeks ago. The tricky part is that the incident looks like a physical shortcoming (faulty cable, faulty network card, etc...) and you get caught in the wrong debugging.
 
If he's going to have two different subnets, why then wouldn't the scopes of each DHCP server isolate it from the other?

David.
 
Best practices
Use the 80/20 design rule for balancing scope distribution of addresses where multiple DHCP servers are deployed to service the same scope.
Using more than one DHCP server on the same subnet provides increased fault tolerance for servicing DHCP clients located on it. With two DHCP servers, if one server is unavailable, the other server can take its place and continue to lease new addresses or renew existing clients.

A common practice when balancing a single network and scope range of addresses between two DHCP servers is to have 80 percent of the addresses distributed by one DHCP server and the remaining 20 percent provided by a second. For more information and an example of this concept, see Configuring scopes

 
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