When two machines on your network receive the same IP address from your Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) server this is known as an IP address conflict.
With windows server 2003 you can configure your DHCP server(s) to use “Conflict Detection” that will prevent your DHCP clients from being assigned or issued the same IP address. When conflict detection is used the DHCP server will issue a ping request to ensure that the IP address that it is ready to be assign is not currently in use. If the IP address is not currently assigned the DHCP offer lease process will be initiated.
To enable conflict detection you need to start the DHCP management console and then follow the steps below:
1. Right mouse click your DHCP server and then select “Properties”.
2. From the context menu select the “Advanced” tab
3. At the “Conflict Detection Attempts” label select the number of Ping attempts you want your DHCP server to use before making a lease offer.
Note: By default the value is set to 0 and when you configure this option you can only allow for a maximum of 6 pings.
4. Click “OK” and close the DHCP management console.
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