If you use DHCP servers to configure TCP/IP settings automatically for workstations in your organisation, a DHCP failure can lead to a major disruption in service. After all, if a workstation is not able to acquire an IP address, then it will have no way of accessing any of the resources on your private network or on the Internet.

There are a number of potential causes for DHCP failures. In most cases, these failures are related to simple communications problems between the DHCP server and the workstations that are trying to lease addresses.
The following are some techniques that you can use for troubleshooting DHCP server failures.