I already have a DHCP Server running and created a reservation for 15 computers. My problem is although I excluded a range of ip addresses not to be distributed in the network, other computers can still get connection to the network if they configure their ip settings manually. How do I configure my windows server 2003 to authenticate the users or computers before they can get a lease from the DHCP Server? Isn't there a simple way for this? I dont understand why microsoft didnt include a range of ip address with matching mac address to reserve for distribution instead of having to manually add each computer to the network so that when i want to add new computers to my network I can easily do so. I would prefer to use DHCP allocation if I can because I dont want to manually configure the ip settings for every computer in the network.
I use a TNet 1000 for my network as I had the same dilemma. IT was a cheap solution for my firewall needs, very secure, and has a lot of features. Basically, you set up DHCP on this box, let all the clients obtain leases, and then in the management console, simply add a static mapping for each lease. Then close up the range for the allowed clients. Done.
