What is a DHCP Scope?

A DHCP scope is a valid range of IP addresses which are available for assignments or lease to client computers on a particular subnet. In a DHCP server, you configure a scope to determine the address pool of IPs which the server can provide to DHCP clients.

Scopes determine which IP addresses are provided to the clients. Scopes should be defined and activated before DHCP clients use the DHCP server for its dynamic IP configuration. You can configure as many scopes on a DHCP server as is required in your network environment.

DHCP Scope Properties





Scope PropertyDescription
Network IDThe network ID for the range of IP addresses
Subnet maskThe subnet mask for the network ID
Network IP address rangeThe range of IP addresses that are available to clients
Lease durationThe period of time that the DHCP server holds a leased IP address for a client before removing the lease.
RouterA DHCP option that allows DHCP clients to access remote networks.
Scope nameAn alphanumeric identifier for administrative purposes.
Exclusion rangeThe range of IP addresses in the scope that is excluded from being leased.

Each subnet can have a single DHCP scope that has a single continuous range of IP addresses. Specific addresses or groups of addresses can be excluded from the range that the DHCP scope specifies. Normally, only one scope can be assigned to a subnet. If more than one scope is required on a subnet, the scopes must first be created, and then combined into a super scope.

For example, if you have two subnets, then you can create two separate scopes for the separate subnets on one DHCP server. You create a separate scope because the subnets have different IP addressing schemes.

Configuring DHCP Scopes in the Microsoft DHCP Server

  1. Open the DHCP console.
  2. In the console tree, click applicable DHCP server.
  3. On the action menu, click applicable DHCP server.
  4. In the new scope wizard, click next.
  5. On the scope name page, configure the name and description.
  6. On the IP address range page, configure the start IP address, end IP address, and subnet mask.
  7. On add exclusive page, configure the start IP address and end IP address, if applicable. If there is one IP address exclusion, configure only that IP address as the start IP address.
  8. On the lease duration page, configure the days, hours, and minutes.
  9. On the configure DHCP option page, select no, I will configure these options later.
  10. On the completing new scope wizard page, click finish.


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