DHCP vs Static IP
DHCP hands out addresses from a pool; a static IP is set by hand and never moves. The opposition is not binary, though: RFC 2131 defines three allocation mechanisms — dynamic (a time-limited lease drawn from a pool), automatic (a permanent address assigned by the server) and manual, where the administrator fixes the address and DHCP merely conveys it. That third mechanism is the DHCP reservation, and it is often the right answer in AV: a fixed address, served and documented in one place. Static is recommended for gear you address BY IP — video switchers, lighting/media controllers, consoles' external control. Worth knowing: Dante audio subscriptions are stored by device and channel NAME, not by IP, so routing survives an address change — Audinate ships DHCP/link-local as the default. Static helps predictability and control by IP, not because Dante routing would otherwise break.
Put the gear you address by IP on a static address, and note every IP in a simple spreadsheet. A Dante subscription does not drop because a box took a new DHCP lease (subscriptions are name-based), but a documented static map still saves time when you are hunting for a device by address at the worst possible moment.
- RFC 2131 §1 Introduction — trois mécanismes d'attribution : dynamique, automatique, manuel