Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!usc!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu!usenet.ins.cwru.edu!usenet!trier
From: trier@usenet.INS.CWRU.Edu (Stephen C. Trier)
Newsgroups: comp.admin.policy
Subject: Re: IP Number management
Message-ID: <1991May28.051212.10733@usenet.ins.cwru.edu>
Date: 28 May 91 05:12:12 GMT
References: <1991May22.201938.6749@news.larc.nasa.gov> <1991May22.224555.2248@ariel.unm.edu> <1991May23.060743.15364@iwarp.intel.com>
Sender: news@usenet.ins.cwru.edu
Reply-To: trier@po.CWRU.Edu
Organization: Case Western Reserve Univ. Cleveland, Ohio, (USA)
Lines: 23
Nntp-Posting-Host: usenet.ins.cwru.edu

What we use around here is BOOTP.  IP addresses are assigned to ethernet
cards, and BOOTP handles the translation when the IP subsystem starts up.
We have a user database that has (almost) every ethernet card in it, so
we can easily search by ethernet address and get the owner of the computer
or the department contact person for computer services.  It works well,
except for the occasional department that does networking themselves or
hires an outside consultant.  The outside consultants never seem to realize
that on a network of thousands of computers, we might want a database of
ether addresses!  :-)

All PC and Mac software is distributed with BOOTP as its default system.
Users routinely copy the software from each other, and as long as they
use a driver that matches their card, there are no problems.  Redundandant
BOOTP servers are provided, scattered across several network segments for
reliability.

Unix and VMS machines do not use BOOTP.  This hasn't been a problem (yet).

-- 
Stephen Trier                        Work: trier@ins.cwru.edu
Case Western Reserve University      Home: sct@seldon.clv.oh.us
Information Network Services