What Is DHCP?

DHCP is a protocol used to automatically assign TCP/IP configuration parameters to computers. DHCP is a standard described in RFC 1531. Other RFCs—1534, 1541, 2131, and 2132—address enhancements and specific vendor implementations of DHCP. A DHCP server can supply a DHCP client with a number of TCP/IP settings, such as an IP address, a subnet mask, and the address of a DNS server.

Because the DHCP server is assigning the IP addresses, only the DHCP server must be configured with static IP address information. The only networking parameter you need to configure on the client end is an option for the client to receive IP address information from a DHCP server. The rest of the TCP/IP configuration is transmitted from the server. If ...

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