Easy solution;

Set up windows server.
Set up linux server.
Shut down windows server and give the motherboard a good zapping with a defibrilator.
Pretend not to notice for a few weeks, and then use the linux server's success as a soap box.


I still can't comprehend why someone would want to have to administer 2 different implementations of dhcpd on 2 different OSs (or pay for said administation), and try to keep them in sync. Surely in todays environment, security is an integral part of what a dhcp server does, and having 2 server opens more opportunities for attack. Would you notice if a 3rd server suddenly appeared and started handing out IPs?

One way that you could make this work a little easier for you would be if you locked down client MAC address to host name maps on the main server, and only supply the locked down IPs from that server, and on the other server only supply generic IPs from a different range. The generic IP range could have a more restrictive policy in effect, so effectively they can only access enough to notify a sysadmin.

That means that your trusted machines should always pick up IPs from the main server - if they all start getting resticted IPs then you'll know quickly that the main server has stopped handing out IPs for some reason.

Of course, I'd still want the linux box as primary.