Using a Raspberry Pi for basic network services, Part 3: Static IP addresses

Photo credit: Michael Henzler
Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

The Raspberry Pi for basic Networking services series:

• Part 1: Introduction
• Part 2: DHCP server
• Part 3: Static IP addresses
• Part 4: DNS

In part 2 of this series, I described how to set up a DHCP server on a Raspberry Pi so it can allocate and serve dynamic IP addresses. But sometimes you need a static address, where a given device always gets the same well-known address.

One obvious solution is to just disable the DHCP client on the device and manually configure its IP address and other networking credentials. This works well for many devices, especially desktop and laptop computers, but it is not without problems.

Using a Raspberry Pi for basic network services, Part 2: DHCP Server

Photo credit: Michael Henzler
Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

The Raspberry Pi for basic Networking services series:

• Part 1: Introduction
• Part 2: DHCP server
• Part 3: Static IP addresses
• Part 4: DNS

Every computer on a LAN needs an IP address in order to communicate with anything else. While you can manually configure each device with a hard-coded ("static") address, this can be inconvenient and sometimes difficult. Especially for small IoT devices like smart appliances.

A long time ago, in the 1980's, several different technologies were invented so devices could be configured from a centralized location, without needing explicit on-device configuration of IP addresses and related information. The DHCP protocol was invented in 1993 and remains the most common mechanism in use today.

Using a Raspberry Pi for basic network services, Part 1

Photo credit: Michael Henzler
Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

The Raspberry Pi for basic Networking services series:

• Part 1: Introduction
• Part 2: DHCP server
• Part 3: Static IP addresses
• Part 4: DNS

If you're like me, your home network is a bit more complicated than just providing Internet access to a laptop and a few mobile devices.

My network, for example, has two desktop computers, five laptops, three tablets, four phones, a Raspberry Pi, an iPod Touch, two Kindle book readers, a printer, a smart TV, a DVR, three game consoles, an Apple TV and an Internet-connected Hi-Fi amplifier. That's 26 devices and I haven't even mentioned the cable modem, the router or any of my older devices that are rarely turned on.

Additionally, although most devices access Internet services, many of these devices access each other. For instance, the two desktop computers are running servers for web pages, file sharing, music sharing and remote login.

When you've got a network this big, the factory default configuration that comes with your router, whether purchased or provided by your ISP, just isn't going to cut it.