I’m not a networking guy and have a few questions. Our office has 2 machines we use as servers. Each plug into their own data port and we use DHCP for IP addressing. We are planning on doing some minor construction and will need to move those ports as part of the construction so they will be unavailable for 2-3 days. Can I plug a hub into a port on the other side of the office and connect the servers to that? Will they have the same IP address as before?
We are using NT 4.0
Yes.
What Techchick said…
Remember that ethernet cable have maximum run lengths of 100 meters or so (I’d have to look it up for exact run lengths…longer for 10Mb, somewhat shorter for 100Mb).
I don’t know how big your office is but just thought you should be aware of it. I had a client ask us the same thing you did…we told him what Techchick said…and he called screaming (literally) that it didn’t work. His problem was stringing a cable too far. We added another hub and it worked fine.
Thanks alot. Our office is very small.
For the 2 questions, the answers are yes and possibly. You said you were using DHCP for their IP addresses so their addresses while come out of the same IP pool, but may not necessarily be the same addresses.
xizor:
In the OP it sounds as if Oblong is asking whether or not the servers will retain the same IP address. Unless the person who built them was a complete fool servers maintain static IP addresses which won’t change unless manually made to do so.
Agreed, Jeff. Hopefully, when Oblong said, “we use DHCP for IP addressing”, he did not mean “these servers use DHCP for determining their own IP addresses.”
Or did he? <cringe>
Well, if they are just Windoze servers, I don’t think the IP address matters. I connect to my work machine (DHCP) from home just using the computer name all the time. The naming mechanism in Windows appears to be independent of IP address. I’ve not cared to figure out how it works exactly, but I think there is some kind of broadcast query going on.
So, in Windows you should be able to find “ServerFoo” no matter what the IP address is. You may have to refresh explorer or something.
If it is any kind of real server then it should have a fixed IP address, or (bonus points) dynamic DNS.
I meant would each individual server retain the IP address they had before. All I know is that when I set up a client I select DHCP. I don’t know what some of that means(in network neighborhood), I just sort of figure it out and look at a machine that’s working.
I’m just worried about something going goofy by moving the servers from the data port in the wall to a hub connected to a port in the next office.
Oblong, yes your network will still work. Physically moving the servers around will not change any addresses you have set up. As long as all your computers are still connected to the same set of wires, shuffling them around will not change the addressing.