Subject: Protocol Action: DHC load balancing algorithm to Proposed Standard

From: The IESG <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 02 Feb 2001 12:48:46 -0500

The IESG has approved the Internet-Draft 'DHC load balancing algorithm'
<draft-ietf-dhc-loadb-03.txt> as a Proposed Standard.  This document is
the product of the Dynamic Host Configuration Working Group.  The IESG
contact persons are Erik Nordmark and Thomas Narten.

Technical Summary
 
This document proposes a method of algorithmic load balancing of DHCP
client requests. It enables multiple, cooperating servers to decide
which one should service a client, without exchanging any information
beyond initial configuration.

The server selection is based on the servers hashing client MAC
addresses into one of 256 hash buckets, and then consulting
configuration information to determine whether a particular server is
supposed to process requests that map into that bucket. The proposed
techique provides for efficient server selection when multiple DHCP
servers offer services on a network without requiring any changes to
existing DHCP clients. The same method is proposed to select the
target server of a forwarding agent such as a BOOTP relay.

Working Group Summary

The load balancing technique was originally developed as part of the
server-to-server failover protocol work, but was made into a
standalone document when it was realized that the idea had wider
applicability than just within a server-to-server protocol. There was
consensus in the WG for the technique in this document and no issues
were raised during Last Call.

Protocol Quality

This document has been reviewed for the IESG by Thomas Narten.