Upgrading Your Existing DHCP Server Hardware

Applies To: Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2003 R2, Windows Server 2003 with SP1, Windows Server 2003 with SP2

Determine whether your current hardware and software, including routers, switches, and other servers and clients, support Windows Server 2003 DHCP. Windows Server 2003 DHCP servers support Windows DHCP clients and third-party operating systems that use DHCP and comply with RFC 2131. For more information about the operating systems that support DHCP, see the Networking Collection of the Windows Server 2003 Technical Reference (or see the Networking Collection on the Web at https://www.microsoft.com/reskit).

If your current systems support Windows Server 2003, but are close to the end of their expected lifecycle, consider upgrading your hardware at the same time that you upgrade to Windows Server 2003. Upgrading DHCP servers running Microsoft® Windows NT® Server version 4.0 or earlier to Windows Server 2003 allows you take advantage of benefits related to the Active Directory directory service, such as integrated secure dynamic updates of the DNS database.

For information about hardware life expectancy, contact your hardware vendor or refer to any internal metrics that your organization might have developed. For information about hardware compatibility, see the Windows Catalog link on the Web Resources page at https://www.microsoft.com/windows/reskits/webresources.

For more information about performing a hardware inventory, see "Planning for Deployment" in Planning, Testing, and Piloting Deployment Projects of this kit.