When I first saw that Windows NT Server 3.5 included something called a "DHCP server" that freed me from having to hand-configure static IP addresses on every one of my IP-connected computers, I was delighted, and I’ve used Microsoft’s DHCP in my networks ever since. Now, between NT 3.5 and now, DHCP hasn’t really changed all that much…. unless you’re talking about the DHCP server service shipped with Windows Server 2008 R2.
The new stuff in R2 isn’t earth-shattering, but it is convenient, and provides a sort of "poor man’s quarantine" by letting you control which machines your DHCP server should give IP addresses to, and lets you do it in a fairly convenient way. In this article, I’ll introduce you to R2’s DHCP MAC address filtering feature and how to make the most of it.
