Static or reserved IP for Printer?

[lakedude]

Is there a separate range of IPs one should draw a static IP from?

We got a new network printer at work. I hooked it up and the network assigned the IP x.x.x.85 using DHCP (I assume). Knowing better than to use a dynamic IP on a shared network printer I requested a static IP from IT. Today they respond that x.x.x.85 will be made static. Can you just take a single IP out of a DHCP range and make it static like that? Is this a silly question?

 

[razel]

Not silly and yes, if it's enterprise stuff they can do whatever they want. They probably are just reserving the IP which you can do on most home routers.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

Yeah; it's actually easiest to just create a reservation for the existing lease.

If they had a separate range for printers, or a separate range for static, they'd have told you. That's kinda old school, IMO, but some admins still insist.

 

[mxnerd]

Yeah, IT dept can do whatever they want.

My personal preference would be .1 (usually router) to .20 range for static IP or DHCP reservation , for servers/printers/shared devices, however. I'll give the printer a new reserved DHCP in that range and reboot it.

 

[lakedude]

So if this x.x.x.85 IP is reserved I don't need to do anything on my end? I don't need to put that address as a static IP in the printer? I can leave the printer set to DHCP and all is good? If so, COOL!

 

[razel]

As long as people can print, then don't change a thing.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

So if this x.x.x.85 IP is reserved I don't need to do anything on my end? I don't need to put that address as a static IP in the printer? I can leave the printer set to DHCP and all is good? If so, COOL!

Yeah, if they created a reservation, then the DHCP server will always and forever give the .85 IP to that printer.

 

[PliotronX]

A neat trick the black belt administrator at work showed me was to include the entire subnet in the DHCP pool and set an exclusion range below .100 (on a /24 network). That way we can set reservations outside of the DHCP "useable" pool making things less confusing and centrally manageable (should the printer reset to factory defaults or something, avoiding an on site visit).

 

[Red Squirrel]

Personally at home I tend to split stuff up in blocks. I also have various vlans so those may be split up further as needed, but generally most stuff is on the main vlan. It's up to you to decide how, just document it properly. I have a spreadsheet to track it all. I also make DNS records and reverse DNS records. for stuff like printers I just do a reservervation in the DHCP server. For stuff like the actual DNS server and other more important servers, I hard code the IP on the server itself. That way in a situation where DNS/DHCP is not available the server can still be connected to.

Also, don't host your DNS server on a VM that is on a VM server that attaches LUNs by host name.... I did that. Don't do that. #LFMF. I have a secondary DNS server on bare metal hardware now.

 

[mv2devnull]

The are multiple DHCP server implementations with varying degree of features/configurability.


Do you refer to the printer with the IP or with a name?
If with IP, then definitely it should be static.

Name, however, how does one know it?
a) It is documented and DNS gives the IP for the needy. DNS can be dynamic (communicate with DHCP) to always return the current IP of the printer.
b) Network devices advertise with broadcast ("service discovery", "network neighbourhood", UPnP, etc), GUI shows name and again the IP is irrelevant.

In other words, all dynamic addresses are not problematic.


(Company) Printers could be on different subnet (usually VLAN). Accounting likes controlled access to resources. Network security staff and worms disagree about beauty of aging printer/IoT firmware on the "open" subnet.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

A neat trick the black belt administrator at work showed me was to include the entire subnet in the DHCP pool and set an exclusion range below .100 (on a /24 network). That way we can set reservations outside of the DHCP "useable" pool making things less confusing and centrally manageable (should the printer reset to factory defaults or something, avoiding an on site visit).

That's interesting, because I'm a stay-at-home-retiree who doesn't hob-nob with IT-department friends anymore, other than through this forum. I had simply chosen to do it exactly like that on my network some years ago -- maybe a decade.

I keep a set of free tools available to give me more control over my network. One of them is a freebie shareware called "Wake-Me-On-LAN" or WakeMeOnLan. It will examine your network and populate a table of all the devices, including PCs, playstation 3, your printers and HT-AVR if connected. It will report the existing IP addresses for them.

If you set up a printer (or computer, for that matter) to get a DHCP-assigned address from your router, it's a good idea to go into the router configuration and reserve the address for the device by name and MAC address.

 

[Carson Dyle]

So if this x.x.x.85 IP is reserved I don't need to do anything on my end? I don't need to put that address as a static IP in the printer? I can leave the printer set to DHCP and all is good? If so, COOL!

I would verify whether or not they've set up a DHCP reservation for that IP address associated with the MAC address of the printer's network interface. If so, you don't have to do anything further. But they may have also just removed the address from the DHCP pool and they're saying "go ahead, use that one". If that's the case, enter it as a static IP address in the printer's network setup.

Most likely they did create a DHCP reservation. That would be the smart thing to do, in case the network addressing needs to change at some point in the future, then they don't need people running around changing IP addresses on individual devices.

 

[Ratman6161]

Actually, if you are at work and your employer has an IT department here is the best answer. Don't buy anything that connects to the network or connect anything to the network without going through IT.

Threatening much we hate more than getting a call - usually billed as some sort of emergency - about some piece of equipment we didn't know existed until we got the call. Then of course we find transient get any support contract Benedictine to fix it when ever something goes wrong with it,,,and on...and on...

 

[Red Squirrel]

Threatening much we hate more than getting a call - usually billed as some sort of emergency - about some piece of equipment we didn't know existed until we got the call. Then of course we find transient get any support contract Benedictine to fix it when ever something goes wrong with it,,,and on...and on...

That used to happen all the time at a place I worked. Used to piss me off. Usually it was a server that crashed and because we did not even know it existed there was no backup routine. We were still held liable for it.

My favourite was a server with medical data and the raid 0 failed. Yes, raid 0. With medical data. It just so happens my coworker ran a data recovery business on the side from his home, like he had the proper tools to remove drive heads and such. Was able to recover it for me and saved my ass.

Another fun one is the MRI machine. It is controlled by a "server". That server is an old Dell Optiplex box under a desk. It was a huge emergency when it failed. We did not even know that "server" existed. "But you're IT!".

 

[ksheets]

Actually, if you are at work and your employer has an IT department here is the best answer. Don't buy anything that connects to the network or connect anything to the network without going through IT.

Please...this....

 

[XMan]

I always prefer to setup print drivers using host name. That way it's not as big an issue whether it's static or dynamic.