Scenario – I have 4 locations connected via a fiber “metro area network”. One location has a Windows 2003 DC which serves DNS to the whole network, but only DHCP on its subnet. The other 3 locations get DHCP from the Cisco 1841 routers that I use to route the fiber optic connections.
Problem – I would like to set up new VOIP phones in several remote offices. We currently have a VOIP system but many offices are using the old phones with it which are adapted for use through the voip switch. I need to VLAN the phone sets and the Cisco’s DHCP sever has to be able to ignore the frames that are tagged with the phone manufacturer code. I do that using Scope Options on the location with the W2k3 server, but apparently, the Cisco 1841’s dont have a robust enough DHCP server to accomodate that. Or I havent read enough, maybe. Im all ears if thats the case.
Please recommend best solutions:
1. Buy DHCP appliances for each of the outer 3 locations that allow me to set scope options. Somewhat expensive, but maybe best option. What DHCP appliance would you recommend??
2. Install Windows Servers at each location. Very expensive but very easy to manage.
3. Manage DHCP for the entire network across the Fiber. Uses existing equipment so it isnt expensive, but removes options for some redundancy that is currently built in. Also, I would have some reading to do to learn how to relay the DHCP requests through the routers to the DC, and figure out how to have each location get addresses that are on the correct subnet for their location (each location has a different /24 LAN). How difficult is that?
Thoughts please? I would LOVE some discussion on VLANing too. I am grappling with it. My set up works, but im not entirely sure WHY.
