Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol

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Supporting BOOTP Clients

The Bootstrap Protocol (BOOTP) is a computer configuration protocol developed before DHCP. DHCP improves on BOOTP and resolves specific limitations BOOTP had as a computer configuration service. RFC 951 defines BOOTP.

BOOTP was intended to configure diskless workstations with limited boot capabilities, while DHCP was intended to configure frequently relocated networked computers (such as portables) that have local hard drives and full boot capabilities.

Because of the relationship between BOOTP and DHCP, both protocols share some defining characteristics. The common elements include:

The implementation of BOOTP support described in this section assumes that the DHCP service is already installed and correctly configured for DHCP clients.

For more information about BOOTP, see RFCs 1532, 2131, and 2132. Support for BOOTP is also available with Windows NT Server 4.0 with Service Pack 2 and later.

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