Most enterprises use DHCP to lease out IP addresses to computers on their networks, and DHCP lease duration can be configured on a per-scope basis using the DHCP snap-in. The default lease is 8 days, after which a computer has to renew their use of the address they've been leased by your DHCP server. There are certain situations however when you might want to shorten this lease period to only a few days or even hours. These situations include (a) if you frequently have computers that leave or join your network; (b) if you have computers that frequently move from one part of your network to another location; or (c) if you have only a limited number of available IP addresses to lease out.
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Mitch Tulloch is President of MTIT Enterprises, an IT content development company based in Winnipeg, Canada. Prior to starting his own company in 1998, Mitch worked as a Microsoft Certified Trainer (MCT) for Productivity Point International. Mitch is a widely recognized expert on Windows administration, networking and security and has written 14 books and over a hundred articles on various topics. He has been repeatedly awarded Most Valuable Professional (MVP) status by Microsoft for his outstanding contributions in supporting users who deploy Microsoft platforms, products and solutions. Mitch is also a professor at Jones International University (JIU) where he teaches graduate-level courses in Information Security Management (ISM) for their Masters of Business Administration (MBA) program. For more information see http://www.mtit.com.
