Offer in a dhcp fo setup with split 255

[Simon Hobson]

Meike Stone wrote:

>  > I've configured two dhcpd servers (dhcpd01 and dhcpd02) in a fail over
>>  association.
>>
>>  The primary is connected directly in the client subnet. The secondary
>>  is reachable via dhcp relay (ip helper) from the client subnet.
>>  The primary should answer every time, if available. Therefor the 
>>split is 255.
>>
>>  But after a DISCOVER from a client in the client subnet, both server
>>  answer immediately with a OFFER.
>  > Is this the correct behavior in a dhcp FO setup?

I've not used failover, but my understanding is that the split value 
controls only how IP addresses are split between the servers - it 
does not control which one answers a client query.
I think there is a min-secs setting (or something like that) which 
controls how quickly a server will respond. As long as the client 
behaves properly and sets the field correctly, the server will not 
answer before the client has already been asking for whatever time 
you set. Thus setting it to (say) 5 seconds one server would give the 
other server chance to respond and the client accept it's offer first.

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Simon Hobson

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