release/acquire IP

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Note added at 16 mins (2007-12-19 03:10:53 GMT)
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depending on context --

(server) leases IP, client acquires IP, client releases dynamic IP, client renews dynamic IP

all refer to dhcp


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Note added at 9 hrs (2007-12-19 12:37:54 GMT) Post-grading
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On DHCP context, a server running dhcpd (DHCP service or "daemon") leases out a range(s) of IPs (usually not a single IP) to several hosts, say a range of 10.0.1.200 - 10.0.1.239 (40 IPs) and a client gets one of them by running dhcp client software on the host. So, the "leases out / acquire" pair was my basic consideration.

In my humble opinion, "assign" is more applied in the static IP context. In fact, a static IP is usually "assigned" by a system administrator (for which I am a part timer), i.e., a biological human with flash and blood :))

"Obtaining" an IP also seems to entail human nature to a host computer, in my humble opinion. It is more natural to say: "Hong-hong obtained a (static) IP from her sys admin" than "Hong-hong's host PC obtained an IP from the dhcp server."


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Note added at 9 hrs (2007-12-19 12:52:03 GMT) Post-grading
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I can't finish my reply in the space provided so I am completing it below:

Thank you, Adison, for your comment. No, my examples were not from routing, which is in another layer - thinking of the 7 layers of networking. E.g., all hosts are on the same subnet then no routing is needed at all. Please recall that routing is only necessary when two or more networks are connected together, say the 192.168.10.x network and the 10.0.1.y network. Then a router with two interfaces is needed to connect the two networks as each interface of the router takes up an IP of each network, say, 192.168.10.254 and 10.0.1.254.