So Exactly When
Will a DHCP Server Start?
The new DHCP server will start DHCP server services if:
- There are other DHCP servers on the segment that are
authorized DHCP servers and the new DHCP server is listed in the Active
Directory’s list of authorized DHCP servers, or- The new DHCP server is the only DHCP server on
the segment. Since the new DHCP will not receive a response to the
DHCPINFORM message query, the new DHCP server will not receive any
information about the Active Directory, or- The new DHCP server is on a segment with other
Windows 2000 DHCP Servers that are workgroup members or all other DHCP
servers on the segments are downlevel systems (such as Windows NT 4.0 or
UNIX DHCP servers).
In the second and third examples the new DHCP server is
unable to contact another DHCP server that has information regarding an Active
Directory domain. The “lone” DHCP server will continue to send a
DHCPINFORM message every five minutes hoping to find a DHCP Server with
information about an Active Directory domain. If the new DHCP server later
receives a DHCPACK from a Windows 2000 DHCP server that contains information
about an Active Directory domain, the new DHCP server will check to see if it is
authorized in the Active Directory and if not, will disable its DHCP server
service.
Get to Know the Windows 2000 DHCP Server’s New Features
The Windows 2000 DHCP Server has many new features that
are worth looking at in more detail. Another important feature of the Windows
2000 DHCP Server is its ability to integrate with the Windows 2000 Dynamic DNS
Server. But we’ll save that discussion for another time.
For More Information
For more information about the Windows 2000 DHCP Server
and what can go wrong with it at times, check out Troubleshooting
Windows 2000 TCP/IP.
For a thorough grounding on how the DHCP Server is
supposed to work, check out our Windows
2000 Network Infrastructure Study Guide.
You can read about DHCP Concepts in the online help file
at Microsoft’s
web site.