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DHCP Relay Agent
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Updated: January 21, 2005
Applies To: Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2003 R2, Windows Server 2003 with SP1, Windows Server 2003 with SP2
DHCP Relay Agent
The DHCP Relay Agent component is a Bootstrap Protocol (BOOTP) relay agent that relays Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) messages between DHCP
clients and DHCP servers on different IP networks. The DHCP Relay Agent is compliant with RFC 1542, "Clarifications and Extensions for the Bootstrap Protocol."
For each IP network segment that contains DHCP clients, either a DHCP server or a computer acting as a DHCP Relay Agent is required.
For information about installing and configuring the DHCP Relay Agent component, see Configure the DHCP Relay Agent.
Notes
You cannot use the DHCP Relay Agent component on a computer running the DHCP service, the network address translation (NAT) routing protocol
component with automatic addressing enabled, or Internet Connection Sharing (ICS).
Internet Connection Sharing and Network Bridge are not included in Windows Server 2003, Web Edition; Windows Server 2003, Datacenter Edition; and the
Itanium-based versions of the original release of the Windows Server 2003 operating systems.
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Relay agent design issues
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Updated: January 21, 2005
Applies To: Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2003 R2, Windows Server 2003 with SP1, Windows Server 2003 with SP2
Relay agent design issues
There are important design issues to consider before you set up relay agents on your network.
When you have multiple DHCP servers, Microsoft recommends that you place your DHCP servers on different subnets, to achieve a degree of fault tolerance,
rather than having all of them on one subnet. The servers should not have common IP addresses in their scopes (each server should have a unique pool of
addresses).
If the DHCP server on the local subnet shuts down, requests are relayed to a remote subnet. The DHCP server at that location can respond to DHCP requests if it
maintains a scope of IP addresses for the requesting subnet. If the remote server has no scope defined for the requesting subnet, it cannot provide IP addresses
even if it has available addresses for other scopes. If each DHCP server has a pool of addresses for each subnet, then it can provide IP addresses for remote
clients whose own DHCP server is offline.
Recommended
The following relay agent implementation is recommended for best routed DHCP network performance. It uses two DHCP servers that are attached to two
different subnets. The relay agents operating on each of the routers used to connect the subnets have varied delay intervals (one is set to 4 seconds, the other
uses no delay). This eliminates the risk of undesirable floods of DHCP packets through randomly selected network paths.
Not recommended
The following relay agent implementation is not recommended. It has the same number of DHCP servers and subnets as in the previous example, but less caution
has been used. There is a higher risk of DHCP discovery messages (DHCPDISCOVERs), which are broadcast by the DHCP clients at startup, being randomly
forwarded or duplicated when destined for the other subnets. Moreover, the relay agents do not use any delay interval. This increases the likelihood that both
relay agents (routers) duplicate any client broadcasted messages, which could potentially flood the remote subnets.
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Understanding relay agents
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Updated: January 21, 2005
Applies To: Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2003 R2, Windows Server 2003 with SP1, Windows Server 2003 with SP2
Understanding relay agents
A relay agent is a small program that relays DHCP/BOOTP messages between clients and servers on different subnets. DHCP/BOOTP relay agents are part of the
DHCP and BOOTP standards and function according to the Request for Comments (RFCs), standard documents that describe protocol design and related
behavior.
DHCP/BOOTP router support
In TCP/IP networking, routers are used to interconnect hardware and software used on different physical network segments called subnets and forward IP packets
between each of the subnets. To support and use DHCP service across multiple subnets, routers connecting each subnet should comply with DHCP/BOOTP relay
agent capabilities described in RFC 1542.
To be compliant with RFC 1542 and provide relay agent support, each router must be able to recognize BOOTP and DHCP protocol messages and process
(relay) them appropriately. Because routers interpret DHCP messages as BOOTP messages (such as a UDP message sent through the same UDP port number
and containing shared message structure), a router with BOOTP-relay agent capability typically relays DHCP packets and any BOOTP packets sent on the network.
If a router cannot function as a DHCP/BOOTP relay agent, each subnet must have either its own DHCP server or another computer that can function as a relay
agent on that subnet. In cases where it is impractical or impossible to configure routers to support DHCP/BOOTP relay, you can configure a computer running
Windows NT Server 4.0 or later to act as a relay agent by installing the DHCP Relay Agent service.
In most cases, routers support DHCP/BOOTP relay. If your routers do not, contact your router manufacturer or supplier to find out if a software or firmware
upgrade is available to support this feature.
How relay agents work
A relay agent relays DHCP/BOOTP messages that are broadcast on one of its connected physical interfaces, such as a network adapter, to other remote subnets
to which it is connected by other physical interfaces. The following illustration shows how client C on Subnet 2 obtains a DHCP address lease from DHCP server 1
on Subnet 1.
1. DHCP client C broadcasts a DHCP/BOOTP discover message (DHCPDISCOVER) on Subnet 2, as a User Datagram Protocol (UDP) datagram using the well-
known UDP server port of 67 (the port number reserved and shared for BOOTP and DHCP server communication).
2. The relay agent, in this case a DHCP/BOOTP relay-enabled router, examines the gateway IP address field in the DHCP/BOOTP message header. If the field
has an IP address of 0.0.0.0, the agent fills it with the relay agent or router's IP address and forwards the message to the remote Subnet 1 where the DHCP
server is located.
3. When DHCP server 1 on remote Subnet 1 receives the message, it examines the gateway IP address field for a DHCP scope that can be used by the DHCP
server to supply an IP address lease.
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4. If DHCP server 1 has multiple DHCP scopes, the address in the gateway IP address field (GIADDR) identifies the DHCP scope from which to offer an IP
address lease.
For example, if the gateway IP address (GIADDR) field has an IP address of 10.0.0.2, the DHCP server checks its available set of address scopes for a scope
range of addresses that matches the class A IP network that includes the gateway address as a host. In this case, the DHCP server would make a check for
a scope of addresses between 10.0.0.1 and 10.0.0.254. If a matching scope exists, the DHCP server selects an available address from the matched scope
to use in an IP address lease offer response to the client.
5. When DHCP server 1 receives the DHCPDISCOVER message, it processes and sends an IP address lease offer (DHCPOFFER) directly to the relay agent
identified in the gateway IP address (GIADDR) field.
6. The router then relays the address lease offer (DHCPOFFER) to the DHCP client.
The client IP address is still unknown, so it has to be broadcast on the local subnet. Similarly, a DHCPREQUEST message is relayed from client to server,
and a DHCPACK message is relayed from server to client, according to RFC 1542.
Note
For more information, see Relay agent design issues.
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Relay agent configurations
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Updated: January 21, 2005
Applies To: Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2003 R2, Windows Server 2003 with SP1, Windows Server 2003 with SP2
Relay agent configurations
There are several relay agent configuration options available if you plan to incorporate a relay agent into your DHCP/BOOTP-enabled network. These options
include using non-Microsoft routers, Windows Server 2003 Routing and Remote Access service, and the DHCP Relay Agent component provided in Windows NT
Server 4.0.
Non-Microsoft router
This example shows a non-Microsoft router configuration. The router is running a relay agent forwarding DHCP requests between Subnet A and Subnet B.
Typically, the relay agent on the router must be configured with the IP address of the DHCP server.
The Routing and Remote Access service
This example shows the Windows Server 2003 Routing and Remote Access configuration. The DHCP Relay Agent in the Windows Server 2003 family must be
configured with the IP address of the DHCP server in order to relay DHCP requests between Subnet A and Subnet B. For more information about setting up the
DHCP Relay Agent, see Configure the DHCP Relay Agent.
The Windows Server 2003 family
This example shows how a standard IP router can be used with a Windows Server 2003 operating system to relay DHCP requests between Subnet A and Subnet
B.
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