[NCLUG] A question about a web server and broadband.

[J. Paul Reed]

On Wed, 20 Feb 2002, Michael Dwyer wrote:

> I understand that this is needed for BOOTP clients...  SOmething like
> that.  Its been a while since I read the docs, too...

Well, shame on us for opening our mouths without checking the docs... we're
lazy, aren't we?

According to RFC 2123, the latest DHCP RFC:

   The server should use whatever information is available in the
   configuration information repository to choose an address to reuse.  For
   example, the server may choose the least recently assigned address.  As
   a consistency check, the allocating server SHOULD probe the reused
   address before allocating the address, e.g., with an ICMP echo request,
   and the client SHOULD probe the newly received address, e.g., with ARP.

And, because this is an RFC, "should" *is* defined ;-) :

     o "SHOULD"

        This word or the adjective "RECOMMENDED" means that there
        may exist valid reasons in particular circumstances to ignore
        this item, but the full implications should be understood and
        the case carefully weighed before choosing a different course.

So, well behaved dhcpd's will ping, but it's not *required* (and thus
cannot entirely be relied upon) by the RFC.

Later,
Paul
    ------------------------------------------------------------------
    J. Paul Reed            preed at sigkill.com || web.sigkill.com/preed
    What's the point in being nuts if you can't have a little fun?
                                   -- John Nash, Jr., A Beautiful Mind