Can a DHCP client boot from a BOOTP server?
Only if the DHCP client were specifically written to make use of the answer from a BOOTP server. It would presumably treat a BOOTP reply as an unending lease on the IP address. In particular, the TCP/IP stack included with Windows 95 does not have this capability. • Is a DHCP server “supposed to” be able to support a BOOTP client? The RFC on such interoperability (1534) is clear: “In summary, a DHCP server: … MAY support BOOTP clients,” (section 2). The word “MAY” indicates such support, however useful, is left as an option. A source of confusion on this point is the following statement in section 1.5 of RFC 1541: “DHCP must provide service to existing BOOTP clients.” However, this statement is one in a list of “general design goals for DHCP”, i.e. what the designers of the DHCP protocol set as their own goals. It is not in a list of requirements for DHCP servers. • Is a DHCP client “supposed to” be able to use a BOOTP server? The RFC on such interoperability (1534) is clear: “A DHCP
