## DHCP and File Servers

Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) minimizes maintenance for a 9600 Series IP Telephone network by removing the need to individually assign and maintain IP addresses and other parameters for each IP telephone on the network.

The DHCP server provides the following information to the 9600 Series IP Telephones:

- IP address of the 9600 Series IP Telephone(s)
- IP address of the Gatekeeper board on the Avaya Media Server
- IP address of the HTTP or HTTPS server
- The subnet mask
- IP address of the router
- DNS Server IP address

Administer the LAN so each IP telephone can access a DHCP server that contains the IP addresses and subnet mask.

The IP telephone cannot function without an IP address. The failure of a DHCP server at boot time leaves all the affected telephones unusable. A user can manually assign an IP address to an IP telephone. When the DHCP server finally returns, the telephone never looks for a DHCP server unless the static IP data is unassigned manually. In addition, manual entry of IP data is an error-prone process.

Avaya recommends that:

- A minimum of two DHCP servers be available for reliability.
- A DHCP server be available when the IP telephone reboots.
- A DHCP server be available at remote sites if WAN failures isolate IP telephones from the central site DHCP server(s).

The file server provides the 9600 Series IP Telephone with a script file and, if appropriate, new or updated application software. See Step 3: Telephone and File Server under Telephone Initialization Process. In addition, you can edit an associated settings file to customize telephone parameters for your specific environment. For more information, see Chapter 7: Administering Telephone Options.