DHCP leases

[Wade Shearer]

Plug,

Are DHCP leases exclusive (generally)? The point--as I understand it--is to remember which address each client receives so that they can be issued the same one each time they connect as long as they connect fairly consistently. The address isn't reserved for them exclusively (within the lease time) though, is it? Meaning, if connections become sparse and are new connection attempts denied because IPs are leased to non-connected clients, or is your IP given to someone else if you're not there?