Assume the linksys and cisco servers are both assigned static IP addresses (192.168.0.1 & 192.168.0.249). Furthermore, assume the DHCP server has been granted the largest, contiguous block of available IP addresses in the subnet range to give out as dynamic IP addresses.

Question

Mathematically speaking, what is the first possible IP address in the DHCP server's pool for addresses?

Answer 1

To determine the first possible IP address in the DHCP server's pool for dynamic addresses, we need to understand the set IP addresses assigned to the Linksys and Cisco servers, along with the typical structure of a private subnet.

You have specified the following static IPs:

• Linksys server: 192.168.0.1
• Cisco server: 192.168.0.249

If we assume a standard subnet mask of 255.255.255.0 (which is common for private networks), the valid IP address range for devices in the subnet 192.168.0.0 would be:

• Network address: 192.168.0.0 (not assignable)
• Usable IP range: 192.168.0.1 to 192.168.0.254
• Broadcast address: 192.168.0.255 (not assignable)

Given this, the IP addresses from 192.168.0.1 to 192.168.0.254 can be assigned, but you've already assigned two IPs statically:

1. 192.168.0.1 (Linksys)
2. 192.168.0.249 (Cisco)

This means the DHCP server will start distributing addresses from the lowest available address after the statically assigned addresses.

The next address after 192.168.0.1 is 192.168.0.2, which is available for dynamic allocation.

Therefore, the first possible IP address in the DHCP server's pool for addresses is:

192.168.0.2