Using DHCP with BOOTP

BOOTP is the Bootstrap Protocol used to configure systems across internetworks. DHCP is an extension of BOOTP. Although Microsoft DHCP Server does not support BOOTP, it has no problem interoperating with an existing BOOTP installation. The DHCP server simply ignores BOOTP packets that it receives.

You can continue to manage BOOTP clients with your existing BOOTP server as you manage other clients on the same subnet using DHCP. If you want your BOOTP clients to migrate to DHCP, you can take as much time as you need to do so.

You must make sure, however, that the BOOTP server and the DHCP server do not manage leases for the same IP addresses. The best way to ensure that there is no overlap in managed addresses is to define the scope of the DHCP server as the entire address range that is managed by both the DHCP server and the BOOTP server, and then exclude the address range that is managed by the BOOTP server. As BOOTP clients are dropped or upgraded to DHCP, the exclusion range can be adjusted accordingly.

For information on defining address and exclusion ranges, see "Defining DHCP Scopes" earlier in this chapter.