[mythtv-users] Static IP vs. DHCP

[Chad]

On Dec 26, 2007 9:10 AM, Carl Reynolds
<mythtv-users at hyperbole-software.com> wrote:
> There is another thread on the list about setting up server IPs and the
> common advice on th list and in the guides is that the backend should be
> set up on a local network with static IPs.
>
> When I first set up my machine, I followed this advice, but because of
> various reasons, I needed to change my network to DHCP. I decided to try
> entering the backend server name instead of the IP address in the server
> address in myth-setup. It seems to work. The frontend sends a request to
> the DHCP server, gets the IP address of the backend server and then uses
> that to communicate with the backend.
>
> What am I missing? Why do people say that you need to use static IPs
> with a split frontend/backend configuration? Is it because of the extra
> time needed to make the IP request from the DHCP server?
>
>
>
> Thanks,
> Carl.

Depending on which DHCP server you are using (from your description it
sounds like dnsmasq) you would get this information from a DNS server
rather than a DHCP server (which dnsmasq is both-in-one).  If you
correctly setup and monitor your DNS server (and the clients that
connect to it) you can typically use name resolution for all hosts on
your network, including dynamically configured ones.  Think of it like
dyndns.org on your local network.  The hostname resolves to an
address, that address is given to a specific machine based on it's MAC
address.  Even without using fixed-address you can still typically use
DNS resolution; once a machine is given an IP from the DHCP server it
will attempt to give it that same address everytime (it checks the
leases file).

-Chad

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