DHCPv4 Relay Supported Scenarios

The following examples illustrate the network environments where the DHCPv4 relay agent is supported.

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DHCP relay agent user scenarios
DHCP server local
Client 1 and Server 0 (S0) are on the same subnet (same broadcast domain). A relay agent is not required in this scenario, because the server receives broadcast discover messages from the client directly. A configured relay agent in this scenario is redundant because the relay agent relays (unicast) the received DHCP packet again to the destination server or client. As a result, both parties receive multiple packets.
DHCP server remote
Client 1 (C1) and Server 1 (S1) are on different subnets but directly linked through a relay agent.
DHCP servers in a network
Client 1 (C1) and Server 2 (S2) are on different subnets and connected through relay chaining (relay multi-hops).
Multiple DHCP servers
Server 1 (S1) and Server 2 (S2) are two server addresses on different subnets configured at relay agent 1.
DHCP server in different VRFs
Client 1 (C1) and Server 1 (S1) are on different VRFs.