DHCP thoughts

[Kenny_Davis]

I have a Fortigate 400E that I am using to route my VLANS with, I have been using a Windows server for DHCP but was wondering if there is any benefit to using the Fortigate DHCP option over the Windows server option or vice versa. What are your thoughts?

Thanks

[ede_pfau]

Pro:

- IPAM is done on a central platform, i.e. your FGT. You can see the IP assigned, the hardware detected, maybe the user on it, you can supply DNS and NTP to DHCP clients. Easy management.

Con:

- Windows DHCP is linked to dynamic DNS. When an address is assigned, the host sends it's hostname to the Win server which creates a DNS record on the fly. FortiOS does not support this, DNS records are static.

So, it depends on your needs. For a limited number of 'well-known' hosts, I can live happily with static DNS. Overview, management, changes, debugging is done all on the FGT which makes my life easier.

Besides, I don't run any Windows server on my network.