DHCP – Dynamic Host Control Protocol

This is a wonderful and time saving little protocol. You already know that every device on a network has to have an IP address…but…how do you configure all of those devices and their IP address? Well, you could do it manually. Once. Twice. Maybe several times. But you would quickly realize the manual way is a pain in the butt….there has to be an easier way! Well, there is. Enter DHCP.

When you turn on most devices, as they boot up, they send out a packet onto the network basically saying “Help…I’m booting up and I need an IP address. Can anyone help me?” And if you have a server (or other device) running a DHCP process, then the answer is yes. The DHCP server will reply with an IP address, and several other bits of needed information, and just like that…the device has an IP address and can start communicating on the network.
Isn’t that cool? I think it is. I will post more about DCHP in the near future and we will see exactly what goes on during a DHCP request.