DHCP Handbook, The (2nd Edition)

The Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) provides a way to automate and manage the network configurations of devices that use the TCP/IP protocol suite. Without DHCP, network administrators must manually enter in IP addresses for each computer and network device and then manually change that address each time the device is moved to a different part of the network. The DHCP Handbook, Second Edition is a complete reference for understanding DHCP, deploying and managing DHCP services, and debugging problems with DHCP clients and servers. Chapters devoted to failover, authentication, Windows 2000, DHCPv6, and DHCP/DNS interaction reflect the recent updates to the standard and issues that are most pertinent to network planners and administrators. Throughout the book, the authors are careful to balance conceptual discussions of DHCP with detailed implementation examples and practical advice.

Customer Reviews:

Er, as one of the authors...

By Ted Lemon - May 29, 2004

...I feel the need to address some points raised in a rather negative review that was posted here on Amazon. The reviewer did not like the DHCP Handbook, and preferred an O'Reilly book on DHCP for Windows 2000. I haven't read the O'Reilly book, so I can't really comment on its content, but I am guessing that if you are a Windows 2000 administrator, it's quite good.The Microsoft DHCP server addresses a fairly narrow marketplace, and lacks some features that are present in the leading commercial and non-commercial DHCP servers. The DHCP Handbook provides some coverage of the Microsoft DHCP server, but does not specialize on the Microsoft product, so it is undoubtedly much less complete from that particular perspective - instead, the DHCP Handbook tries to provide general coverage of the DHCP protocol in a way that will be useful across a broad range of DHCP servers.So if, for example, you want a detailed presentation on the DHCP failover protocol, particularly on how to... read more

Excellent, in-depth coverage of DHCP

By "john_simpson" - June 8, 2004

If you have to design, configure, and manage a complex DHCP environment, this book is an outstanding resource. I've used the first edition (first printing ;-) for years, and am in the process of purchasing the second edition. In that time I've configured or set configuration standards for dozens of DHCP servers running the ISC DHCP server and dozens more managed by Lucent's VitalQIP DHCP service. I have not personally configured or managed a Microsoft DHCP server, but I've walked many consultants through setting up DHCP servers from Microsoft, Cisco, Linksys, etc.The value of this book is its depth. Protocols, design considerations, conditional leases, client identification, authentication, failover, client issues, OS considerations, Dynamic DNS integration, migration between static and dynamic environments, and just about everything else you'll run into are well covered. The authors are actively involved in the development of DHCP standards and the ISC DHCP reference... read more

Everything you wanted to know about DHCP

By Michael A. Hawkins - January 9, 2007

The book is organized well, has an excellent index and provides detailed information from basic concepts through to advanced configurations, diagnostics and troubleshooting. I obtained this book because our organization had just deployed new DNS/DHCP appliances and there were problems with the DHCP failover configuration. This book provided as much detail as I could have asked for. It turned out that, (at the time of writing this review, Jan 2007) ISC DHCP failover is thoroughly broken. So although this book couldn't help me with our failover problem, I still recommend it for those who need a comprehensive DHCP reference.