Newbie Question time:

In my college, we run a DHCP server which maps users MAC addresses to IPs - in other words, the whole setup keeps allocated IPs static - the machine always gets the same IP, and the network admin gets to keep a record of used/unused IPs. In the student labs, of course, the machine privileges don't allow folks to mess with the network config, but faculty machines, machines in graduate/research labs are administered by their owners. How would one prevent any of them from just running a ping sweep over the network, finding out which ip is down, and allocating it to themselves? It happens a lot actually, and can be a pain when the admin would want to track a machine and its not in the DNS/DHCP. And more importantly, can be a major security issue in labs without port security on the switches; anyone can attach up their machine, allot themselves an IP address, and mess around on ther network.

Thanx for any info folks,

_Scim_