What is the DHCP Protocol ?
The DHCP protocol or Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol is a network management protocol used on UDP/IP networks where a DHCP server dynamically assigns an IP address and other network configuration parameters to each device on a network so they can communicate with other IP networks.
How does it work ?
- Discover -> Client computer broadcasts a DHCP discover packet to find available DHCP servers in the network.
- Offer -> Server that recieves client’s DHCP discover packet sends the client a DHCP offer packet.The offer packet contains all available ip addresses that is offered by the server to the client.
- Request->Client sends a DHCP request packet to the server that sends a DHCP offer packet. This request packet is used by client to request the server to assign the offered ip address to the client.
- Acknowledge->Server sends a DHCP acknowledge packet to the client. This packet is used to acknowledge the assignment of the offered IP address for a specific lease time to the client.
Example:
