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From: jis@BITSY.MIT.EDU (Jeffrey I. Schiller)
Newsgroups: comp.protocols.tcp-ip
Subject: Re: Automatic IP address assignment
Message-ID: <8706091617.AA05870@BITSY.MIT.EDU>
Date: Tue, 9-Jun-87 12:17:09 EDT
Article-I.D.: BITSY.8706091617.AA05870
Posted: Tue Jun  9 12:17:09 1987
Date-Received: Fri, 12-Jun-87 03:24:40 EDT
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	I have been working on and off on a protocol to assign IP
addresses on the fly. The idea being based on a combination of ARP and
an RARP mechanism.  I am putting together a document that I will
submit as an RFC after I have done some coding and made sure it is a
"sane" approach.

	It is a "configurationless" protocol. Ie. you don't preassign
an IP address to some Ethernet address in advance of first use.
Instead the first time a new machine (actually new ethernet address)
shows up on the network it is assigned a semi-permanent IP address WHICH
IT HAS TO DEFEND by responding to ARPS for its address.  The biggest
problem with using it on PCs is that (at least with PC/IP) when a PC
isn't using a network application, it is deaf to the network. Is this
still true with PC-NFS, or is the network software always active?
Ifso then this protocol might work for you.

	I actually have a draft of this document but have been
hesitant to give it much distribution until I test it. However if
there is sufficient interest I can make it available (provided people
respect its draft status).

			-Jeff