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DHCP 
Solutions Challenges Features & Benefits

DHCP Solutions

Service Reliability and Consolidation Across Access Networks

Users rely on DHCP as a critical network service to gain access to broadband IP applications. Carrier access networks, which provide connectivity to millions of broadband, mobile, wireless and dial-up users, must be capable of processing large volumes of DHCP requests to allocate IP addresses to users. Typical DHCP implementations in carrier environments are based on the operation of multiple Layer-3 access networks (e.g., for ADSL, mobile, wireless, etc.) each with its own dedicated DHCP infrastructure. Any DHCP service failure immediately translates into failed access and the eventual disconnection of existing broadband users once their lease time is up.

Key DHCP service challenges include
boxr2c1 Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) is used by networked computers to obtain unique IP addresses and other parameters including default router, subnet mask and domain name system (DNS) server IP addresses. DHCP uses the concept of a "lease" which limits the time period that a given IP address is valid for a computer. By employing very short leases, DHCP can dynamically reconfigure network addresses to ensure address availability, even when the number of computers exceeds the number of IP addresses. The DHCP server ensures that all IP addresses are unique and that no IP address is assigned to a second client while the first client's assignment is still valid.
  • DHCP Infrastructure Consolidation and Cost Reduction – Carriers seeking to consolidate and simplify their DHCP service infrastructure to reduce costs must be capable of managing DHCP address allocation across independent Layer 3 access networks, while flexibly assigning network configurations based on subscriber services, equipment, location or other dynamic factors.

  • DHCP Availability – Serving large numbers of subscribers efficiently and reliably under heavy loads requires the ability to guarantee DHCP server fault tolerance for continuous IP address allocation by access network, ensuring that user requests are directed to a server with an appropriate address range.

  • DHCP Scalability – Each DHCP server has limited processing capacity and as a result has a limited ability to serve concurrent requests for any given address range. To meet growing volumes of users and broadband access requests, DHCP services must scale address allocation capacity to serve hundreds of thousands or millions of client devices.

  • DHCP Security – DHCP services must be secured against unauthorized client access, DoS floods and malicious attacks including server processing overflows, address allocation overflows and OS exploits.