Difficulty: Moderately Easy
Step1
Determine the starting and ending IP addresses to be used in your scope. If you have equipment that requires static IP addresses, like printers and servers, those IP addresses must be excluded from the range.
Step2
Consider changing your static addresses so that they all occur at the beginning of the IP address range. Then start your DHCP scope at a number that comes after the static addresses. For example, you can give all your servers and printers addresses in the 1 to 20 range and start your DHCP scope at 21.
Step3
Click on the "Start" button. Click "Administrative Tools" and "DHCP." Select the DHCP server. Choose "New Scope" from the action menu. Follow the wizards to create the scope.
Step4
Select a lease time for addresses. The default is 8 days. Don't make the time too short, since address renewals generate a lot of network traffic.
Step5
Enter the IP addresses of your gateway (the router or firewall that gives your network access to the Internet) and your DNS and WINS servers. Type in the name of your DNS domain.
Step6
Modify the subnet mask if necessary. The DHCP console will assign the default subnet mask which can be used on most networks.
Step7
Activate the scope. Click "Yes" when asked to activate by the wizard. If you want to activate later, right-click the new scope and select "Activate." Right-click "Address Pool" and select "New Exclusion Range" to exclude any static addresses that are in use by existing equipment.
