Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol

Each network needs a way to identify each computer to communicate between them.

Dynamic host configuration protocol (DHCP) plays an important part of having a Microsoft Windows-based network. The DHCP server helps route traffic through a network to individual computers and servers.

Function

The DHCP server role hands out dynamic Internet protocol (IP) addresses to all computers on the network. Dynamic addresses are IP addresses within a series that the administrator specifies. DHCP will also distribute other information to a computer as well such as the gateway IP address and the subnet mask for the network.

Features

One of the features of DHCP is that you have the option to specify a certain section of addresses you can designate for resources, such as printers. A common practice with DHCP is to provide one large scope of addresses for computers and then create another scope or block of addresses specifically for resources.

Warning

When using DHCP, the administrator must set up the entire scope to include the possibility for growth. This should be done when the network is created to prevent having to create multiple scopes and different subnets in a network.

References

• Microsoft: DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol) Basics