Linking dns and dhcp – Echelon i.LON 600 LonWorks/IP Server User Manual
Page 59
Section 2: Advanced Topics
Linking DNS and DHCP
If your L
ON
W
ORKS
/IP channel implementation is completely under your control, and you
have control of all DHCP and DNS servers referenced by the members of your
L
ON
W
ORKS
/IP channel, it is possible to assign all addresses using DHCP without static
reservations and resolve members using DNS and the Configuration Server. Windows
2000 Server, for example, allows you to link DHCP and DNS records in this fashion.
Echelon does not recommend this method of configuring L
ON
W
ORKS
/IP channels.
See Appendix A or visit
http://www.echelon.com/products/internet/ilon10howto/DHCPserver.pdf for more
information on DHCP and DNS.
Note: The Configuration Server is an application that defines L
ON
W
ORKS
/IP channels
and runs on a PC. The Configuration Server requires a single static IP address for all PCs
running LNS (version 3.01 or later) that are connected in the L
ON
W
ORKS
/IP channel. If
you leave the Configuration Server attached to the L
ON
W
ORKS
/IP channel, DNS
resolvable addresses can be used. If the IP network links its DHCP server and DNS
server (a Windows 2000 based server can do this), then i.LON 600s can be setup to use
DHCP assigned addresses. However, the Configuration Server’s ability to resolve
addresses through DNS is limited. See the DNS and the Echelon L
ON
W
ORKS
/IP
Configuration Server section in Appendix A for more information. DDNS may also be
used with the same precautions.
The EIA-852 specification requires that devices on a L
ON
W
ORKS
/IP channel share IP
addresses instead of DNS resolvable names. If an i.LON 600 in a channel is aware of a
peer at 131.1.23.52, and that peer changes addresses, the i.LON will lose communication
with the peer until it receives an updated peer list. The Configuration Server can solve
this problem by sending out an updated list (using DNS) to all members on the channel.
The i.LON can not resolve DNS address issues on its own.
• When exchanging messages with the Configuration Server and other devices on
the L
ON
W
ORKS
/IP channel, the i.LON 600 protocol requires that each device’s
IP address remain static so it can identify other members of the L
ON
W
ORKS
/IP
channel. See note above.
If DHCP will be used to retrieve the IP information for the i.LON 600, the network
administrator must ensure that a DHCP server is available to provide the IP address,
subnet mask, and gateway address. In addition, the network administrator should create
individual static address reservations for each i.LON 600.
i.LON 600 User’s Guide
51