Understanding Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP)

You've read a lot about DHCP in the last few chapters, and you might be wondering what it really is. As my grandpa would have said, “Here's the five-cent version.”

DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol) is an agreed upon standard for assigning variable Internet Protocol (IP) addresses to devices on a network. These variable addresses are called dynamic IPs.

Dynamic addressing makes network administration easier because the software keeps track of IP addresses rather than requiring a human being to perform the task. It greatly simplifies things to be able to add a new computer to a network without the hassle of manually assigning it a unique IP address. For whatever it's worth, you also ...

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