Windows Server 2008 R2 networking : Planning and Deploying DHCP (part 2) - Deploying DHCP

3. Deploying DHCP

DHCP is installed by adding the DHCP role in Server Manager. The initial set up process will install the DHCP components and will take you through the initial configuration of the DHCP server. To add the DHCP server role, perform the following steps:

1.	Open Server Manager from Start | Administrative Tools | Server Manager.
2.	Click to highlight the Roles node in the left pane. Then click the Add Roles link in the middle pane. This will launch the Add Roles Wizard.
3.	Click Next to begin the installation process.
4.	Select DHCP Server from the list of available roles (see Figure 3). Then click Next. Figure 3. Select DHCP Server Role.
5.	You will be taken to the DHCP summary page. Click Next to continue.
6.	The first configuration option will ask you to provide the domain name and the DNS Servers to provide to each client. These are the DNS Servers that each DHCP client will use for name resolution. Enter the IP address of two DNS Servers on your network, and then click Next.
7.	If you are using WINS, you will need to specify the IP addresses of the primary and secondary WINS servers. If WINS is not used, leave the option WINS is not required for applications on this network selected. Then click Next.
8.	You are now ready to set up a DHCP scope. Remember that a scope is the range of IP addresses you want to make available to DHCP clients. Enter the DHCP range as seen in Figure 4. At this stage, you can also set the subnet mask and default gateway to be used by DHCP clients. After setting the scope range and options, click OK. Then click Next. Figure 4. Creating DHCP Scopes.
9.	If you are using IPv6, you can now add the DHCPv6 configuration information. For our example, we will disable stateless DHCP mode for the server. Then click Next.
10.	You will now need to authorize the DHCP server in AD, assuming that you have AD deployed on your network. DHCP authorization ensures that only authorized DHCP servers can offer IP addresses to DHCP clients. Choose or enter credentials that have the ability to authorize DHCP servers (see Figure 5), then click Next. Figure 5. Authorize DHCP Server.
11.	You will now see the DHCP install summary screen. Verify whether the settings are correct. Then click Install. This process will now install, perform initial configuration, and authorize DHCP.
12.	Once the installation is completed, you should see an installation success message. The server should now start to lease IP addresses to DHCP client computers.
13.	The DHCP Management console will appear under the Roles node in Server Manager. You can go here to change configuration options, including changing lease settings or adding additional scopes.

Notes From the Field DHCP advanced options for devices Some devices like Voice over IP Phones require custom options to be set for the DHCP scope. These custom options can be added to DHCP easily but you will need to get the full list of options from your hardware provider.

Administering and troubleshooting DHCP

After DHCP is set up and running, there is very little ongoing maintenance required. There are a few administrative concepts that you need to understand thoroughly. These include reservations, exclusions, and the new allow and deny filters.

If you need to add additional IP ranges to your DHCP server, you will simply need to create a new scope. This can be done by opening the DHCP node in Server Manager, and then right clicking the DHCP server. You should select the option Create new scope. This will launch the wizard to create a new scope. Enter the necessary configuration information similar to what you did during the initial installation of the role.

Additionally, you can add what is known as an exclusion range to an existing scope. An exclusion range is just a range of IP addresses to exclude from the range being offered to clients. This can be helpful if you have a range of IP addresses that you temporarily do not want to be used on the server, or if you need to reserve certain ranges for network devices, printers, etc.

DHCP Filters is a new feature available in Windows Server 2008 R2. DHCP filters permit you to specifically allow or deny specific network adapter hardware addresses. The deny option can be very useful if you have a rogue computer that you want to ensure does not get an IP address on your network.