Watching performance on a DHCP Server

[Blake Hudson]

>
> BTW, what would you say would be typical of DHCP performance for a 
> machine that handles 250k IP addresses
>
> Does 130 4-way handshakes or 600 2-way handshakes per second sound right 
> to you? (Based on the dhcperf tool)
>
> Larry Apolonio


Larry, I'm interested in testing the performance of a DHCP server 
recently installed for an ISP (~ 25k IP addresses) to ensure that should 
something occur on the network that the DHCP server will not become 
overloaded with requests.

I had assumed that a DHCP server should be able to handle hundreds, if 
not thousands of requests a second, given the simplicity of the 
protocol. However, recent problems that others have experienced has lead 
me to the conclusion that this may not necessarily be true.

I looked for the dhcperf tool that you mentioned. However, it appears 
the hosting site (http://www.nominum.com/testing_tools.php) no longer 
offers this program and I am unable to find a copy elsewhere. Would 
anyone happen to know where I can find a copy or know of any other 
similar tools that offer the functionality to 'load test' a DHCP server? 
- Sourceforge listed a few promising projects, however none had any 
code/files available. I wouldn't mind a little scripting if the 
underlying client/server handling is already done, again I want to try 
to mimic (or exaggerate) a real world situation where all network 
clients have lost their leases and are requesting new ones simultaneously.

Thanks in advance,
-Blake