DHCP Seconds Field Limits Forwarding of Packets by Relay Agents (130929)
The information in this article applies to:
- Microsoft Windows NT Workstation 3.51
- Microsoft Windows NT Workstation 4.0
- Microsoft Windows NT Server 3.51
- Microsoft Windows NT Server 4.0
This article was previously published under Q130929
In Windows NT 3.51, Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) clients set
the seconds field in the DHCP message to zero in the initial DHCP packet.
This field is incremented for every subsequent DHCP packet retransmitted by
the client.
The DHCP relay agents may be configured with a non-zero threshold value for
the seconds field (a value of 4 is recommended). This prevents relay agents
from forwarding all DHCP packets with the seconds field set to a value less
than the threshold value. If there is a DHCP server in the local subnet
that has an available address for lease, it will respond to the initial
DHCP packet. The client then does not have to retransmit that DHCP packet
with a higher number in the seconds field which will be forwarded by the
relay agent. This considerably reduces the number of DHCP packets forwarded
to other subnets by the relay agent.
| Modification Type: | Minor | Last Reviewed: | 5/4/2005 |
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| Keywords: | kbnetwork KB130929 |
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