Microsoft DHCP Multiple domain Names

[lbrochmann]

We have a single DHCP server and we need to distribute more than one domain name (Global entry 15 Domain Name) with DHCP to our client computers.

Does anybody know how to configure the 015 record to distribute more than one domain name ?
All our clients are windows 9x. Manually we are putting all the necessary domain names under domain suffix order on the clients we want to automate this.

THANKS TO ERVYBODY WHO KNOWS SOMETHING ABOUT THIS !!!!

Laurent

 

[Zelandakh]

Have you thought about multiple scopes, one for each domain name? It would make life easier if they then expand to make totally separate enties or want more segregation.

 

[dhcp]

Zel

Thanks for your comments. Our network is fully switched and so we only have one segment and one IP subnet for the whole firm.
Any other ideas ??

Laurent

 

[007SOLO]

Zelandakh can you explain a little more about the multiple scopes for a single DHCP server. Our company is growing and we need to distiguish between locations. We also accuired a Company with email established with a unique domain too. Is it possiable to set up their domain on our server to receive and send mail too.

 

[kjonnnnn]

Dont you need a DCHP Relay set up on each segment?

http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com/nt5help/Server/en/mpr_how_dhcprelay.htm

6. Relay agent
When a machine in a known broadcast region cannot reach directly a DHCP server, you need a relay agent which forwards DHCP packets from that region to a given server and back to your clients. It is just a network pipe.

If you use relay agents and Windows clients, remember to set the option always-broadcast on on your dhcp server inside the subnet (or better the host) declaration where those Windows computers live. If you do not, your relay will not work with these computers (a very good way to make your users install Linux).

http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/wintcp/sample_chpt/tnt_06.html

Installing and Configuring the DHCP Relay Agent

You install the DHCP Relay Agent, like other Windows NT services, from the Services pages of the Control Panel Network dialog. To install it, right click the Network Neighborhood icon on your desktop to display the context-sensitive menu and choose Properties to display the Network dialog. Display the Services page and choose Add. Windows NT builds a list of available network services and displays the Select Network Service dialog. Highlight DHCP Relay Agent and then choose OK to install it. As usual, you need to restart the server before the changes take effect.

Once the DHCP Relay Agent is installed, you can configure it from the DHCP Relay page of the Microsoft TCP/IP Properties dialog, shown in figure 6-2. To view this page, display the Network dialog, click the Protocols tab, highlight TCP/IP Protocol, and choose Properties to display the Microsoft TCP/IP Properties dialog.


The DHCP Relay page of the Microsoft TCP/IP Properties dialog.

To enable DHCP Relay, you must enter the IP address of at least one DHCP Server. To do so, choose Add to display the DHCP Relay Agent dialog, enter the IP address, and choose Add. Windows NT copies the address to the DHCP Servers pane. To edit or remove the IP address for a DCHP server, highlight it in the DHCP Servers pane and choose Edit or Remove.

The only remaining configuration steps are to set values for Seconds threshold and Maximum hops. The Maximum hops value controls the maximum number of times a DHCP packet can be relayed, and is analogous to setting the maximum number of router hops in RIP. The Seconds threshold value requires a bit more explanation.

A DHCP client sets the seconds field in the first DHCP packet to zero, and increments this value by one for each subsequent packet it retransmits. The setting of the Seconds threshold field controls whether or not the DHCP Relay agent forwards a received packet to the remote DHCP Server. The DHCP Relay agent compares the value in the seconds field of DHCP packets it receives against the value set for Seconds threshold. If the seconds field in the packet is less than the Seconds threshold value, the DHCP Relay Agent discards the packet. If the seconds field in the packet is greater than or equal to the Seconds threshold value, the DHCP Relay agent forwards it to the DHCP Server on the remote subnet.

Setting a non-zero value for Seconds threshold allows local DHCP Servers time to respond before the DHCP Relay Agent forwards a DHCP request to a DHCP Server located on a remote subnet. Allowing the local DHCP Server the first shot at responding to local DHCP clients greatly reduces the number of DHCP packets that are forwarded to remote subnets.

The value for Seconds threshold is set to 4 by default, which is the value Microsoft recommends. However, implicit in this recommendation is the assumption that there is a local DHCP Server. If this is the case, 4 is a reasonable value. If there is no local DHCP Server, you are depending entirely on the DHCP Relay Agent to service DHCP clients on the local subnet. In this situation, you could set the Seconds threshold value to zero to ensure that all DHCP request packets will immediately be relayed to the remote DHCP Server.

Needless to say, however, depending exclusively on remote DHCP Servers via the DHCP Relay Agent is a risky business. If your communications link goes down, local clients will be unable to boot. The DHCP Relay Agent is really intended as a means to provide secondary DHCP services for redundancy in a routed network. Rather than use it as the primary provider of DHCP services, you should install DHCP Server and define a DHCP scope on the local subnet.

Managing DHCP with DHCP Manager

After you have installed the DHCP Server Service, you use DHCP Manager to configure and manage it. Before the DHCP Server can support clients, you must complete the initial configuration steps described in the following section. After you have configured the DHCP Server, you can use DHCP Manager to reconfigure the DHCP Server as necessary, and routinely to view the status of the DHCP Server and DHCP clients.

 

[Zelandakh]

To try to answer all questions in as few words as possible:

More than one domain/network. Install DHCP relays agents OR multi home the DHCP so it sees all of the network. Split the network (even a single domain) if need be. Set DHCP scopes as required (for each department if need be). Manage the scopes at that level using scope options for the domain name etc. Use global options for the ordinary stuff like DNS, WINS, gateways and so on.

 

[PreyTell]

Split the network anyway, unless it is very small, because even 200-300 computers on a single broadcast domain can be hazardous to your networking health. [sig][/sig]