How to set an infinite lease on DHCP server 2008 R2

Question

_{Monday, June 27, 2011 1:50 AM}

How do I set an IP address to infinite release in DHCP server 2008 R2?

All replies (2)

_{Monday, June 27, 2011 2:22 AM ✅Answered | 1 vote}

Hello,

In the DHCP scope properties, general tab, you will see an unlimited radio button under the time set.

I do not recommend infinite release time for a DHCP server. This can cause network problems. Clients will never trigger a renew and changes in the DHCP server or scope can create stale IP, conflicting IP, etc. Also, some devices don't really like infinite release and they may act buggy. In addition, you may run out of private IP's if you have foreign computers coming in and out or you have computer being swapped out or repaired.

Cheers,

Miguel Fra

Miguel Fra / Falcon IT Services
Computer & Network Support, Miami, FL
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_{Monday, June 27, 2011 2:23 AM ✅Answered | 1 vote}

Hi,

What's the reason for using infinite lease times in DHCP server?

It’s technically possible and most of the devices support it but the recommendation is never to have infinite lease time. The main reason is that any change in network configuration on dhcp server will not be updated on the client as the client will not trigger renew.  Also it’s reported on some site that few devices don’t behave properly with INFINITE lease time and result in service crash and other issues. So if you are dhcp admin and want to avoid unnecessary issues it’s recommended not to have INFINITE lease time. See Configuring lease time.

Use the following guidelines to decide how to best modify lease duration settings for improving DHCP performance on your network:

• If you have a large number of IP addresses available and configurations that rarely change on your network, increase the lease duration to reduce the frequency of lease renewal queries between clients and the DHCP server. This reduces some network traffic caused by clients renewing their leases.

• If you have a limited number of IP addresses available and if client configurations change or clients move often on your network, reduce the lease duration to promote scavenging of old IP addresses by the DHCP server. This increases the rate at which addresses are returned to the available address pool for reassignment to new clients.

Brent

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