Jackson County School District Scales Up DHCP Performance with DNSBOX
Jackson County School District needed a high-performance DHCP solution to replace Microsoft Windows servers and handle tens of thousands of devices across 14 schools.
The network was structured with separate VLANs for each school hallway, plus dedicated VLANs for phones and cameras, creating complex, high-volume DHCP demands. Ensuring fast lease distribution and eliminating Microsoft's maintenance overhead were key priorities.
After evaluating DNSBOX, the district deployed two DNSBOX220 appliances, capable of delivering over 1,400 DHCP leases per second—far exceeding their requirements. Even in a worst-case scenario, where 36,000 devices requested an IP lease simultaneously, DNSBOX could complete the process in just 25 seconds.
The transition was seamless, with IT staff praising the intuitive interface and ease of configuration:
"It looks really easy to set up, and honestly, I think it looks great overall."
After successfully running DHCP on DNSBOX, Jackson County expanded their deployment, adding a virtual DNSBOX400 to manage authoritative DNS. This allowed them to fully transition away from Windows, consolidating both DNS and DHCP into a streamlined, purpose-built solution.
