dhcpd version 4.1.1 in production environment ?

[Bjarne Blichfeldt]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: dhcp-users-bounces+bjarne.blichfeldt=bec.dk at lists.isc.org
> [mailto:dhcp-users-bounces+bjarne.blichfeldt=bec.dk at lists.isc.org] On
> Behalf Of Glenn Satchell
> Sent: 21. januar 2010 11:44
> To: Users of ISC DHCP
> Subject: Re: dhcpd version 4.1.1 in production environment ?
> 
> sthaug at nethelp.no wrote:
> >> We are using isc-dhcp 3.0.7 in our production environment at the
> moment.
> >> Two RHEL linux servers, failover, loadsharing -  about 570 subnets.
> >>
> >> I understand that there has been a lot of development in the
> failover protocol and I am interested in
> >> taking advantage of that. The failover scenario is very important to
> us due to the many subnets.
> >>
> >> What is the concensus of moving to version 4.1.1 ( or anything
> beyond 3.0) ?
> >>
> >> I am a little puzzled/concerned, as to why linux distributions and
> FreeBSD are using old versions
> >> of dhcpd. Red Hat defaults to 3.0.5, OpenSuse defaults to 3.1.2 and
> FreeBSD latest version in the ports is 3.1.3.
> >
> > This depends on the Red Hat and FreeBSD maintainers, obviously.
> >
> > We have been running 4.1.1 (beta versions) in a failover config since
> > April 2009. Around 100k leases in 176 pools. Currently running on
> > FreeBSD 7.2-STABLE.
> >
> > There have been several important bug fixes regarding failover, and
> one
> > important bug fix for a memory leak. We are very happy with the
> stability
> > of the latest 4.1.1 versions (4.1.1b3, 4.1.1rc1, 4.1.1 release
> version).
> >
> >> Does that mean version 4.1.1 is not really tested and ready or are
> the old versions so good that nobody wants to move ?
> >> Should we maybe go for version 3.1.x instead of 4.1.1 ?
> >
> > As far as I know the latest failover fixes have also been
> incorporated
> > in 3.1.x. Having said that, 4.1.1 is rock solid for us (no crashes,
> no
> > memory leaks), and the fact that it also supports IPv6 is a big plus.
> > I would say that 4.1.1 has been tested quite extensively.
> >
> > Note that some parts of the failover protocol (e.g. dhcpd state id)
> have
> > changed between 3.0.x and {3.1.x, 4.x.x} - thus if you upgrade from
> > 3.0.7 you need to upgrade both servers in your failover pair.
> >
> > Steinar Haug, Nethelp consulting, sthaug at nethelp.no
> 
> 
> 4.1.0 alpha came out in September 2008, so the code has been out here
> for a while now. The release notes only show some minor fixing through
> beta, release candidate and final. I think this shows that the code is
> good.
> 
> While my network is much smaller than Steiner's, 4.1.1 was the first
> 4.x
> release that worked for me on Solaris 10 and has been rock solid in my
> environment from the original alpha up until the final release.
> 
> If I was setting up production networks now then I'd be using 4.1.1.
> While the upgrade is straight forward, if you're coming from 3.0.x then
> the upgrade to 3.1.x or 4.1.1 is about the same effort.
> 
> I think David and the rest of the ISC developers have done a great job.

OK thanks a lot to your both for your thoughts. Sounds clear to me.
I think I will make an implementation plan for 4.1.1 right away and get it done.

Regards,
Bjarne Blichfeldt