DHCP - Managed
Configuration of TCP/IP
Hosts
Dr. Ralph Droms
Bucknell University
droms@bucknell.edu
4DHCP purpose and goals
4Background and history of
DHCP
4Operational details
4Using DHCP
Outline
From RFC2131:
The Dynamic Host Configuration
Protocol (DHCP) provides a
framework for passing configuration
information to hosts on a TCP/IP
network. DHCP consists of two
components: a protocol for delivering
host-specific configuration
parameters from a DHCP server to a
host and a mechanism for allocation
of network addresses to hosts.
Purpose of DHCP
4A host without a valid IP address locates
and communicates with a DHCP server
4A DHCP server passes configuration
parameters, including an IP address, to the
host
4The DHCP server may dynamically
allocate addresses to hosts and reuse
addresses
4Hosts can detect when they require a new
IP address
4Unavailability of DHCP server has minimal
effect on operation of hosts
DHCP Functional Goals
4Provides protocol stack, application and
other configuration parameters to hosts
4Eliminates need for individual, manual
configuration for hosts
4Includes administrative controls for
network administrators
4Backward compatible packet format for
BOOTP interoperation (RFC 1542)
4Can coexist with hosts that have pre-
assigned IP addresses and hosts that do not
participate in DHCP
What Does DHCP Do?