Cisco Switch VLAN – Configuring IP Helper in Multiple Access Switches

ciscoswitchvlan

Just a dumb question..

I have 1 core switch and 5 access switches.

Just wondering if it would be best to setup the IP helper on all access switches rather than just on the core switch?

Does this take a lot of processing resources for about 400 desks?

Thanks!

Best Answer

Most probably your core switch has the gateway ip of the subnet like 192.168.1.1. If you want to enable ip-helper on your access switches, then you need to assign ip to the vlan on access switches something like from 192.168.1.2 to 192.168.1.6.

In this case all 6 switches will translate broadcast DHCP discover to unicast and send to DHCP server. DHCP server will receive 6 Discover and reply with 6 Offer. These 6 DHCP Offer will be relayed by all switches to the host so host PC will receive 6 offer. This means a lot of process for everyone without a benefit.

DHCP relay is not something cause high cpu load. It is always best practice to enable ip-helper where your gateway ip is configured for the subnet.