[Bioclusters] alternative DHCP implementations?

[Adam S. Moskowitz]

Chris,

> We are thinking about trying to find a replacement DHCP server that has 
> a predictable method of allocating dynamic IP addresses (even if only 
> for the initial cluster deployment)

I think it's a bad idea to rely on such behavior. I don't remember what
the RFC says, but in general, unless the RFC guarantees an
implementation should behave a particular way, you are asking for
trouble to rely on specific behavior.

A great example of this is how round-robin DNS used to work and then how
it changed and lots of things broke.

DHCP isn't meant to do what you're asking it to do, so I strongly
suggest you not use it to solve that particular problem.

That said, DHCP supports a mechanism for binding specific IP addresses
to specific MAC addresses, even though the assignment is still done
dynamically. Yes, this is a bit more work, but at least it's guaranteed
behavior.

AdamM