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Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) is a network management protocol used to dynamically assign an IP address to any new node entering the network. DHCP permits a node to be configured automatically, thereby avoiding the necessity of involvement by a network administrator

DHCP does the following:

  1. Manages the provision of all the nodes added or dropped from the network
  2. Maintains the unique IP address of the host using a DHCP server
  3. Sends a request to the DHCP server whenever a client/node, which is configured to work with DHCP, connects to a network. The server acknowledges by providing an IP address to the client/node.

Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol is also known as RFC 2131.

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Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP)