Introduction

The Microsoft Windows Server network operating system builds on the Microsoft support for Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP).

Each host computer connected to a TCP/IP network must be assigned a unique IP address. The Microsoft DHCP server allows the network administrator to dynamically assign network settings to the clients that connect to a network.

The DHCP server offers the following features:

  • Integration of DHCP with DNS.
  • Dynamic assignment of IP addresses allows, address reuse through leases.
  • Multicast address allocation.
  • Automatic pushdown of configurations to clients allows configuration changes to be applied transparently.

If the DHCP server experiences an overload or a slowdown while processing requests, it is bound to delay the automatic discovery of additions (client / server) to the network and the assignment of identification (i.e., IP address) to them; consequently, users may be denied timely access to critical clients or servers. Continuous monitoring of the DHCP server can alone help administrators in promptly identifying and resolving such problem conditions. The eG Enterprise helps administrator in this task.

You can find great details about monitoring of the DHCP server in the following topics: