W2k DHCP-router question

[KHT]

I`ve recently setup an Allied Telesyn AR220E DSL router on a W2k network. Presently everything is working fine. (yes, it has an NAT firewall) The situation is this though. At first i had a problem with the router getting a WAN IP address. It turns out the router has an integral DHCP server and the W2k also is setup to give IP addresses via DHCP. I ran winipcfg and under more info clicked release all and then renew all and since then everything is working fine. The tech at Allied told me that if i disable DHCP on the W2k server everything will be configured correctly.

My question is this. If everything is now working OK should i assume the position of "if it works don`t fix it"? Also, I`m not sure how to disable DHCP on the W2k server if i later decide to. Can any problems arise from the current situation other than possible future invalid IP address assignments? And, why is it now working? Some possible reasons i think are, when the workstaion broadcasts for an IP address the router is assigning it before the W2k server. Possibly the IP address lease is set to never expire by the W2k server. (wild stab in the dark on that one). Possibly the current IP adresses aren`t changing because the DSL is on an "always connected" state and the router keeps them assigned to the workstations.

Any light that can be shed on this situation will be appreciated along with any security considerations due to using DSL.

Thanks in advance.

[K A Hall]

I would think that having 2 DHCP servers on the same network is going to cause problems sooner or later. However, if it is working now I would just leave it alone. To disable DHCP on the W2K system Just go to Administrative Tools -> Services -> and right click on DHCP server and Stop -> then do then right click on same and go to properties and change the startup type to manual under the general tab.
I am not an expert yet on these kind of things but I would think that disabling DHCP on the router would be the way to go instead. You need to look into this further, which is what you are doing here...heh!

[cobra]

you beat me too it, I was typing!
Good answer.
Whether you want the router or server to give out ip addresses is up to you. I wouls also use the win2k server as dhcp, then just use the router as a router, strictly.
http://www.dalantech.com/win2k-dhcp.shtml
good luck

[Great_One]

you can run mulitple dhcp servers. a lot of companies do it to provide re-dundancy. you need to make sure that they are using the same ip block and that
you have divided the ip block up between the 2 so that you do not end up with
overlaping ip addresses. normaly computers try to renew the same ip address
which is probably why you havent had any problems yet. if you and new hardware that requires dhcp down the road, then at some point you will have a problem.

[KHT]

Thanks for the replies. At least they`ve pointed me in the right direction. Even though everything is working now I think I`ll look into disabling DHCP on the router, seems to be the simplest approach to get things right and avoid any future conflicts.