Dell PowerConnect 7048P - What Is L2 DHCP Relay

908 Configuring L2 and L3 Relay Features
the DHCP request. If the number of hops is greater than the configured
number, the agent discards the packet. If the
giaddr field is zero, the agent
must fill in this field with the IP address of the interface on which the request
was received. The agent unicasts the valid packets to all configured DHCP
servers. Each server responds with a unicast BOOTREPLY addressed to the
relay agent closest to the client as indicated by
giaddr field. Upon reception of
the BOOTREPLY from the server, the agent forwards this reply as broadcast
or unicast on the interface where the BOOTREQUEST arrived. This
interface can be identified by the
giaddr field or option 82.
The PowerConnect 7000 Series switch DHCP component also supports
DHCP relay agent options to identify the client interface. If configured, the
relay agent inserts these options when forwarding the request to the server
and removes them when sending the reply to the clients.
If an interface has more than one IP address, the relay agent uses the primary
IP address configured as its relay agent IP address.
What Is L2 DHCP Relay?
In Layer 2 switched networks, there may be one or more infrastructure devices
(for example, a switch) between the client and the L3 Relay agent/DHCP
server. In this instance, some of the client device information required by the
L3 Relay agent may not be visible to it. In this case, an L2 Relay agent can be
used to add the information that the L3 Relay Agent and DHCP server need
to perform their roles in address and configuration and assignment.
Before it relays DHCP requests from clients, the switch can add a Circuit ID
and a Remote ID. These IDs provide information about the circuit and port
number connected to the client. This information is added as suboptions in
the DHCP Option 82 packets as defined in sections 3.1 and 3.2 of RFC3046.
The switch removes this option from packets that it relays from L3 Relay
agents/DHCP servers to clients.
These sub-options may be used by the DHCP server to affect how it treats the
client and also may be used by the relay agent to limit broadcast replies to the
specific circuit or attachment point of the client.