You are the administrator of 15 Windows XP Professional portable computers in the sales department of your company. The company network uses DHCP to configure the IP addresses of the portable computers when the computers are used in the office. Company policy allows the company portable computers to be connected to users’ home networks. The sales department reports that users who use home networks that have manually configured IP addresses are unable to connect the portable computers to their home networks. You want to ensure that users can connect portable computers to their home networks when they are at home and to the company network when they are in the office. You do not want to change the configuration of home computers on users’ home networks. You do not want to change the administrative privileges of the sales department users. What should you do?
A.
Configure the network adapters of the portable computers to enable Internet Connection Sharing (ICS).
B.
Configure the network adapters of the portable computers to enable Automatic Private IP Addressing (APIPA).
C.
Add a script to the users’ desktops that changes the IP configuration between dynamic and manual.
D.
Configure the IP properties of the portable computers so that they have an alternate configuration.
Explanation:
The Alternative configuration feature enables mobile computers to have two different IP configurations, for example one at the office and one at home.
Incorrect Answers:
A: ICS allows an Internet connection to be shared. ICS is not useful in this scenario, however, since ICS will not help with two different IP configurations on the same computer.
B: APIPA allows DHCP configured clients to use a private IP configuration when a DHCP server is unavailable. It is not useful in this scenario, however, since ICS will not help with two different IP configurations on the same computer. APIPA is not useful in this scenario, however, since APIPA will not help with two different IP configurations on the same computer.
C: It would be awkward and require much effort to write and apply a script that changes IP configuration between dynamic and manual.
Microsoft Knowledge Base Article (Q283676): HOW TO: Use the Alternate
Configuration Feature for Multiple Network Connectivity in Windows XP