Subject: Server initiated traffic

From: Jimmy Bush <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 27 Jul 2001 06:59:25 -0700 (PDT)

Would there ever be a case when a DHCP server would
initiate traffic with a client?  Perhaps if it has
lost power?  Or has given out all its licenses and
wants to revoke one?

I'm thinking that the answer is no, because I can't
really see a mechanism for this within the protocol,
and it doesn't really sound like something a server
would do (given that it is in the business of
serving.)  However, if anyone has seen something like
this I would love to know the context and the results.
 Thanks.

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From: Ralph Droms <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 30 Jul 2001 07:15:56 -0400

>lost power?  Or has given out all its licenses and

Based on the spec in RFC2131, the server never initiates a message exchange 
with a client.  If the server loses power, the DHCP server recovers its 
lease information from its permanent record.  The server has no mechanism 
for revoking an existing lease.

There is a new DHCP message, proposed in 
draft-ietf-dhc-pv4-reconfigure-06.txt (expected to become an RFC soon), 
that allows a server to send a message to a client that causes the client 
to recontact the server for updated configuration information.

- Ralph Droms