CCNA - DHCP vs. static IP

Author

DHCP vs. static IP - which one?

wildscribe

2002-09-23, 10:19 pm

I finally got my first networking job. I got lucky. A friend of a friend knew someone who needed a tech. Despite having limited experience, the guy gave me a chance. I am now a network admin for a small office center. The center is sort of like a hotel - a bunch of companies rent small offices and share resources like receptionists, conference rooms, Internet access, etc.

Anyway, it just opened and I've got the T1 connected and the Cisco 2600 up and running. The place has 30 units and they want to rent another floor and add about 60 more. Right now I have it set up as a DHCP network, but I know that once we have more tenants (currently, only five offices have been rented), we might need to use static IPs. And if a tenant needs a VPN, will they be able to use a VPN on a DHCP network? I have been talking to the ISP and they are hesitant about giving up 32 IP addresses. But I could threaten to dump them and go with another provider and they probably would give them up.

My question is: Should I continue running the network as a DHCP or go the static IP route?
And what are the benefits and drawbacks of a static IP network vs. DHCP?

Thanks,

-Wild

bfattima

2002-09-24, 7:10 am

quote:
Originally posted by wildscribe
I finally got my first networking job. I got lucky. A friend of a friend knew someone who needed a tech. Despite having limited experience, the guy gave me a chance. I am now a network admin for a small office center. The center is sort of like a hotel - a bunch of companies rent small offices and share resources like receptionists, conference rooms, Internet access, etc.

Anyway, it just opened and I've got the T1 connected and the Cisco 2600 up and running. The place has 30 units and they want to rent another floor and add about 60 more. Right now I have it set up as a DHCP network, but I know that once we have more tenants (currently, only five offices have been rented), we might need to use static IPs.

And if a tenant needs a VPN, will they be

able to use a VPN on a DHCP network? I have been talking to the ISP and they are hesitant about giving up 32 IP addresses. But I could threaten to dump them and go with another provider and they probably would give them up.

My question is: Should I continue running the network as a DHCP or go the static IP route?
And what are the benefits and drawbacks of a static IP network vs. DHCP?

Thanks,

-Wild

As you may know statis is secure however if you choose to go with the static as long as you don't have that many conection it might be fine, but when you start to grow it'll be a problem because with the statis when a problem appear in your network you have to go back and change the route that's the draw back of the statis and it's not advisable to use in a big network

twister166

2002-09-24, 9:52 am

quote:
Originally posted by wildscribe
My question is: Should I continue running the network as a DHCP or go the static IP route?
And what are the benefits and drawbacks of a static IP network vs. DHCP?

Thanks,

-Wild

The problem is security not the ip address assignment. If your clients is a lawyer, he may not want to have his computer be seen by another clients... your company is in the business of intelegent offices. Security of the clients is the first requirement, then make sure one client's virus does not spread to other's... else you will be looking at law suites... good luck!

ruscorp

2002-09-24, 10:08 am

As already stated, static works well for small environments, but crappy for larger ones.

wildscribe

2002-09-24, 1:06 pm

Thanks bfattima, twister and ruscorp!

It looks like I will be setting up the network for IP rather than DHCP. Companies are concerned about security. It's better that I do this now before a prospective tenant asks about the network and we lose a potential client.

This place has to succeed. I don't I can go through the pain of looking for another job.

- Wild

bfattima

2002-09-24, 2:59 pm

quote:
Originally posted by wildscribe
Thanks bfattima, twister and ruscorp!

It looks like I will be setting up the network for IP rather than DHCP. Companies are concerned about security. It's better that I do this now before a prospective tenant asks about the network and we lose a potential client.

This place has to succeed. I don't I can go through the pain of looking for another job.

- Wild

But if you don't know how to manage the statis route you'll be looking for a job

edmonds_robert

2002-09-24, 6:25 pm

I really don't see how static IP's are more secure than DHCP. If you implement physical and port security properly on your network, you can have an environemt just as secure with DHCP as without. If someone wants access to your network bad enough, static IP's are going to be little more than a speed bump.
Take it from someone who has managed a network with over 1,000 nodes that DIDN'T run DHCP, you don't want the headache. I don't care how well intentioned you are, eventually you're going to have someone who doesn't follow the rules, and you're going to end up with IP address conflicts. That's when the real fun starts.
As your network grows, you will definitely appreciate one less thing to keep up with. Besides, if you can manage a DHCP network, you can manage a statically addressed network. The issues are the same, except with DHCP you get to make a computer do most of the worrying for you. Good Luck!

twister166

2002-09-24, 6:48 pm

The way I would design this network will be a select a switch that supports VLAN and Port locking. DHCP or not is not a major concern.

VPN will allow the client security, and port lock will allow only qualify MAC get into your LAN, thus provide the best security. DHCP or Static would not provide security. With VLAN and port it will make your client network secure, DHCP will make your managment life a lot easier...

vschristopher

2002-09-24, 9:59 pm

DHCP is hella lot better and abt security u shud use swithces and configure them for secured traffic, have secured ports and i dont think there will be any problem, optionally u can use a firewall like Checkpoint.

dont go for static IP addressing it will create a mess for u later....

lol DHCP or static IP's they are only for path determination nothing else..wy worry abt them a lot, and anyone whos an admin knows abt duplicate IP problem too in static addressing.

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