Dedicated DHCP and DNS server...

Hi,

I wonder if there is some dedicated DHCP and DNS server distros out
there. I have two networks which I would like the DHCP and DNS services
to reside in a separate box, so that the basic network functionality
persists even if a domain controller or internet gateway goes down.

I also need to maintain lists on which MAC addresses are to be given
certain IP addresses.

I assume that I don't need a top-of-the-line computer to serve two 250
user networks with DCHP and DNS..? Or would it really require computing
resources?

Thanks for comments on this and hints if there are specialized distros I
should look at for this purpose.

regards

Geir

On Sun, 03 Dec 2006 23:53:42 +0100, Geir Holmavatn wrote:

> I wonder if there is some dedicated DHCP and DNS server distros out
> there.

Any linux distro will do this for you. And you should be able to do it on
any crap old box. My choice would be to install Debian without a gui. You
could use ICS Bind and DHCP servers, although they are a bit of a pain to
set up and get going properly.

Dan

Geir Holmavatn wrote:
> Hi,
>
> I wonder if there is some dedicated DHCP and DNS server distros out
> there. I have two networks which I would like the DHCP and DNS services
> to reside in a separate box, so that the basic network functionality
> persists even if a domain controller or internet gateway goes down.
>
> I also need to maintain lists on which MAC addresses are to be given
> certain IP addresses.
>
> I assume that I don't need a top-of-the-line computer to serve two 250
> user networks with DCHP and DNS..? Or would it really require computing
> resources?
>
My primary DHCP/DNS is set up on an NSLU2 NAS box. They're fairly cheap
and low power and there's a website on the subject of putting useful
Linux on them (http://www.nslu2-linux.org/).

I don't know how well it would cope with 500 users but you could always
find out :-)

--
Dave
mail da (E-Mail Removed) (without the space)
http://www.llondel.org
So many gadgets, so little time

I use slackware 2.0.30 on a 486/50 16 meg to run my DNS, dhcp,
and print services. (version 4 or 7.1 I think)
I shares 2 laser and an OCE plotter to my network without a problem.
although it does use caching scsi controller to keep lag time down on
printing. a 386/40 is my backup dns.
Alas when I go to gigabit network it will be time to retire it.
Robert

On Sun, 03 Dec 2006 23:53:42 +0100, Geir Holmavatn wrote:

> Hi,
>
> I wonder if there is some dedicated DHCP and DNS server distros out
> there. I have two networks which I would like the DHCP and DNS services
> to reside in a separate box, so that the basic network functionality
> persists even if a domain controller or internet gateway goes down.
>
> I also need to maintain lists on which MAC addresses are to be given
> certain IP addresses.
>
> I assume that I don't need a top-of-the-line computer to serve two 250
> user networks with DCHP and DNS..? Or would it really require computing
> resources?
>
> Thanks for comments on this and hints if there are specialized distros I
> should look at for this purpose.
>
> regards
>
> Geir

You could use zeroshell which includes a dns and a dhcp server. The dhcp
gives you the possibility to associate an IP to a MAC address. It is easy to
configure and you don't need to install it on hard disk because it is
available in live cd format or compact flash for small devices.
Zeroshell is available at tha site http://www.zeroshell.net/eng/



> Hi,
>
> I wonder if there is some dedicated DHCP and DNS server distros out there.
> I have two networks which I would like the DHCP and DNS services to reside
> in a separate box, so that the basic network functionality persists even
> if a domain controller or internet gateway goes down.
>
> I also need to maintain lists on which MAC addresses are to be given
> certain IP addresses.
>
> I assume that I don't need a top-of-the-line computer to serve two 250
> user networks with DCHP and DNS..? Or would it really require computing
> resources?
>
> Thanks for comments on this and hints if there are specialized distros I
> should look at for this purpose.
>
> regards
>
> Geir
>