GE ML1600 - Manual (Page 65)

CHAPTER 5: IP ADDRESSING IMPORTANCE OF AN IP ADDRESS
MULTILINK ML1600 ETHERNET COMMUNICATIONS SWITCH – INSTRUCTION MANUAL 5–3
5.2 Importance of an IP Address
5.2.1 DHCP and Bootp
DHCP is commonly used for setting up addresses for computers, users and other user
devices on the network. bootp is the older cousin of DHCP and is used for setting up IP
addresses of networking devices such as switches, routers, VoIP phones and more. Both of
them can work independent of each other. Both of them are widely used in the industry. It's
best to check with your network administrator as to what protocol to use and what the
related parameters are. DHCP and bootp require respective services on the network. DHCP
and bootp can automatically assign an IP address. It is assumed that the reader knows
how to setup the necessary bootp parameters (usually specified on Linux/UNIX systems in
the
/etc/boopttab
directory).
5.2.2 Bootp Database
Bootp keeps a record of systems supported in a database - a simple text file. On most
systems, the
bootp
service is not started as a default and has to be enabled. A sample
entry by which the
bootp
software will look up the database and update the IP address
and subnet mask of the switch would be as follows:
ML1600:\
ht=ether:\
ha=002006250065:\
ip=3.94.247.41:\
sm=255.255.252.0:\
gw=3.94.244.1:\
hn:\
vm=rfc1048
where:
•
ML1600 switch
is a user-defined symbolic name for the switch and
•
ht
is the hardware type. For the MultiLink family of switches, set this to
ether
(for
Ethernet). This tag must precede the
ha
tag.
•
ha
is the hardware address. Use the switch's 12-digit MAC address
•
ip
is the IP address to be assigned to the switch
•
sm
is the subnet mask of the subnet in which the switch is installed
Each switch should have a unique name and MAC address specified in the
bootptab
table
entry
5.2.3 Configuring DHCP/bootp/manual/auto
By default, the switch is configured for auto IP configuration. DHCP/bootp/manual can be
enabled with the command line interface by using the
set bootmode command with the
following syntax:
set bootmode= bootimg=
bootcfg=