Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!helios!inetg1!phil
From: phil@inetg1.ARCO.COM (Phil Meyer)
Newsgroups: comp.admin.policy
Subject: Re: IP Number management
Message-ID: <1991May28.180615.2327@Arco.COM>
Date: 28 May 91 18:06:15 GMT
References: <1991May22.201938.6749@news.larc.nasa.gov> <1991May22.224555.2248@ariel.unm.edu> <1991May23.060743.15364@iwarp.intel.com> <1991May28.051212.10733@usenet.ins.cwru.edu>
Sender: phil@inetg1 (Phil Meyer)
Reply-To: phil@Arco.com
Organization: ARCO Oil & Gas Company
Lines: 44

In article <1991May28.051212.10733@usenet.ins.cwru.edu>,
trier@usenet.INS.CWRU.Edu (Stephen C. Trier) writes:
> 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).

UNIX systems can use rarp (reverse arp) for determining IP address.  On SUNOS
you can set up /etc/ethers on your NIS master to do this.  The new preinstalled
SUN systems will configure themselves (including IP address) when you first
plug them in, *IF* their ethernet address is in ehters, and you have already
assigned them an IP address in the hosts database.  Pretty cool stuff.

bootp is used for software distribution on SGI machines, and they are certainly
UNIX machines.  VMS can also use bootp to distribute software.  We use bootp
from VMS machines to load stuff like LANWORKS to all of our Macs.  Of course,
nearly all Xterminals can use bootp to load software, and all of ours use bootp
to boot up initially.

The problem with automatic assignment of IP addresses comes into play with
routers and sub-domains.  I would love to take my machine to a conference room
in another part of our complex and have it work, but NIS just doesn't work that
way.  So no matter what I do, some kind of re-configuration is required before
my machine will work in a conference room (or any other room) outside of my
physical subnet.  This is a necessary evil.  There is a price to pay for
keeping network bandwidth reasonable (routing), and easier systems managemant
(NIS).  You sacrafice convenience.
-- 
+=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-+
| Phil Meyer         phil@arco.com  Work:(214) 754-6805                      |
+=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-+