4-3
Catalyst 3550 Multilayer Switch Software Configuration Guide
78-11194-03
Chapter4 Assigning the Switch IP Address and Default Gateway Assigning Switch Information
Default Switch Information
Table 4 -1 shows the default switch information.
Understanding DHCP-Based Autoconfiguration
The DHCP provides configuration information to Internet h ost s and i nte rnet work ing de vice s. T his
protocol consists of two components: one for delivering configuration parameters from a DHCP serve r
to a device and a mechanism for allocating network addresses to devices. DHCP is built on a
client-server model, in which designated DHCP servers allocate network addre sses a nd de liver
configuration parameters to dynamically configured d ev ice s.
During DHCP-based autoconfiguration, your switch (DHCP client) is automatically configured at
startup with IP address information and a configuration file.
With DHCP-based autoconfiguration, no DHCP client-side configuration is ne ed ed o n your sw itch .
However, you need to configure the DHCP server for various lease options associated with IP addresses.
If you are using DHCP to relay the configuration file lo cat ion on the net work , you m ight a lso ne ed to
configure a Trivial File Transfer Protocol (TFTP) server and a Domain Name Syst em ( DNS) se rv er.
The DHCP server can be on the same LAN or on a different LAN than the switch. If the DHCP server
is running on a different LAN, you should configure a DHCP relay. A relay devi ce for war ds b roadc as t
traffic between two directly connected LANs. A router do es no t fo rwa rd broa dca st p ac ket s, bu t it
forwards packets based on the destination IP address in t he r e cei ved p ac ket .
DHCP-based autoconfiguration replaces the BOOTP client functionality on your switch.
Table4-1 Default Switch Information
Feature Default Setting
IP address and subnet mask No IP address or subnet mask are defined.
Default gateway No default gateway is defined.
Enable secret password No password is defined.
Host name The factory-assigned default host name is Switch.
Telnet password No password is defined.
Cluster command switch functionality Disabled.
Cluster name No cluster name is defined.