If you support a small network, you might have static IP addresses assigned to your workstations. This is probably the case if your organisation hosts a Web site on a workstation. Or you might have other reasons for having static IP addresses, such as not wanting to hassle with DHCP on a small network. Whatever the reason, you could disable the DHCP Client service on your computer to save some memory and overhead and attempt to streamline your system. Before you grab your mouse and start rummaging through the Services console, think about the other things the DHCP Client service does for you. Windows 2000 introduced a feature called Dynamic DNS (DDNS), which enables a Windows 2000 client to request that a Windows 2000 DHCP server update the client's host record when the host name or the client IP address changes. This is particularly useful when the DNS server needs to maintain an up-to-date host record for computers that receive their addresses through DHCP. It also updates the host record if your workstation's host name changes or you change your static IP address. If you disable the DHCP Client service, those dynamic updates will stop.
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Most client computers have just one network connection; usually, only servers are multihomed (which means they have more than one network interface). In most cases, a computer also has only one gateway, which is the IP address of the computer or router that routes traffic to the next network segment and ultimately to the Internet. If a company has more than one connection to the Internet, it's common to assign more than one gateway to a client computer so it can still connect to the Internet (or other network segments) if one of the gateways goes belly-up. A Windows 2000 computer builds a routing table when it boots and uses that routing table to determine how to route outgoing traffic. When you have more than one gateway, the computer might not use the most current routes. So try to route traffic through a gateway that is down or through a route that is less efficient than another. You can use the RIP Listener service to enable the computer to adjust to routing changes. The RIP Listener service lets the computer listen for RIP announcements from routers and modify its routing table accordingly. So, if a route changes because one or more routers or segments is down or the cost changes for a route, the Windows 2000 client can adjust accordingly.
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