Windows Server 2003 Network Administration

Chapter 5. Managing DHCP Services

A Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP ) server automatically configures TCP/IP clients running DHCP client software. Centralize the management of IP addresses, netmasks, and other TCP/IP configuration information on a DHCP server to reduce the amount of administration needed to manage your network.

DHCP extends an older protocol called Bootstrap Protocol (BOOTP), which provided similar, although more limited functionality. BOOTP was the first comprehensive configuration protocol to provide all of the information commonly used to configure TCP/IP from the client’s IP address to what print server the client should use. BOOTP was simple and effective, so effective in fact that it became the basis for DHCP. DHCP operates over the same UDP ports, 67 and 68, as BOOTP. The DHCP protocol exchanges are covered in Chapter 3.

DHCP adds several configuration options to BOOTP along with the ability to temporarily allocate, or lease, IP addresses. DHCP provides:

Complete TCP/IP configurations

A DHCP server provides a complete set of TCP/IP configuration parameters—even rarely used parameters are provided. This allows a network administrator to handle the TCP/IP configuration of clients from a central server.

Dynamic address assignments

A DHCP server can provide permanent addresses automatically and temporary addresses dynamically. The network administrator can tailor the type of address to the needs of the network and the client system.

BOOTP was originally defined ...