For the most part, the Microsoft DHCP Server service is a great tool for providing IP addresses automatically through the DHCP protocol. However, as with Microsoft and any other computer technology out there, you will run into problems. The Microsoft DHCP Server is no exception to this rule.
From past experience, I have had issues with the DHCP Server getting too many requests per minute, causing it to eventually fail. The tips below is what I used to temporarily resolve the issue. The real problem was the heavy abuse from something on my network. The specific error for this case was Event ID 1014, error -519.
1. Backup your DHCP database! Obviously, before you start anything, I would recommend making a copy of the entire c:\windows\system32\dhcp\ folder to a remote location. Typically, I like to keep a copy in a dated folder on a network drive just so I can go back to any previous backup and any time.
2. Stop the DHCP Server service. It is not a good idea to try to modify databases without first stopping the services that use them, right?
3. Clear out the old stuff. The next step is to remove the old data files, with the exception of the dhcp.mdb file. If you want an additional backup of your dhcp files, move all files except dhcp.mdb into another folder, such as c:\windows\system32\dhcp\olddhcp\.
4. Rebuild/Repair the database. Now that we only have the original dhcp.mdb file in the dhcp folder, lets rebuild the database using jetpack. Open a command prompt window and change directory to c:\windows\system32\dhcp\. Run the following command “jetpack dhcp.mdb temp.mdb”. This will rebuild the database into temp.mdb and remove dhcp.mdb and then rename temp.mdb to dhcp.mdb and create the neccesary log files.
5. Start the DHCP Server service. After starting the service, verify that the scopes exist and that the service is serving DHCP addresses.
Of course, use this at your own risk.
