DHCP

DHCP stands for Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol. It is designed to ease configuration management of large networks by allowing the network administrator to collect all the IP hosts soft configuration information into a single computer. This includes IP address, name, gateway, and default servers. Refer to [RFC 2131] - DHCP - Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol for detailed information about all settings which can be assigned with DHCP. DHCP is a client/server protocol, meaning that the machine with the DHCP database serves requests from DHCP clients. The clients typically initiate the transaction by requesting an IP address and perhaps other information from the server. The server looks up the client in its database, usually by the client's media address, and assigns the requested fields. Clients do not always need to be in the server's database. If an unknown client submits a request, the server may optionally assign the client a free IP address from a pool of free addresses kept for this purpose. The server may also assign the client default information of the local network, such as the default gateway, the DNS server, and routing information.