THE DYNAMIC HOST CONFIGURATION PROTOCOL (DHCP) SERVER
IS A CRITICAL COMPONENT OF MODERN NETWORKS,
AUTOMATING THE PROCESS OF ASSIGNING IP ADDRESSES AND
NETWORK CONFIGURATIONS TO DEVICES. THIS REPORT
PROVIDES A DETAILED OVERVIEW OF THE DHCP SERVER, ITS
FUNCTIONALITY, AND ITS ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES.
A DHCP SERVER STANDS FOR DYNAMIC HOST CONFIGURATION PROTOCOL SERVER, IS A
NETWORK SERVICE THAT AUTOMATES THE ASSIGNMENT OF IP ADDRESSES AND NETWORK
CONFIGURATION PARAMETERS TO DEVICES CONNECTED TO A NETWORK. IT DYNAMICALLY
ALLOCATES THESE SETTINGS FROM A PREDEFINED POOL OF IP ADDRESSES AND OTHER
INFORMATION, SUCH AS SUBNET MASKS, DEFAULT GATEWAYS, AND DNS SERVERS. THIS
ENSURES THAT EACH DEVICE RECEIVES A UNIQUE CONFIGURATION TO COMMUNICATE
EFFECTIVELY WITHIN THE NETWORK. BY AUTOMATING THESE SETTINGS, THE DHCP SERVER
ELIMINATES THE NEED FOR MANUAL CONFIGURATION OF DEVICES, REDUCES
ADMINISTRATIVE WORKLOAD, PREVENTS IP ADDRESS CONFLICTS, AND FACILITATES
SEAMLESS CONNECTIVITY FOR DEVICES ACROSS NETWORKS OF VARYING SIZES. DHCP
SERVERS ARE COMMONLY IMPLEMENTED ON ROUTERS, DEDICATED MACHINES, OR CLOUD-
BASED PLATFORMS, OFFERING FLEXIBILITY AND SCALABILITY FOR DIVERSE NETWORKING
NEEDS.
1. DHCP SERVER: IT IS TYPICALLY A SERVER OR A ROUTER THAT HOLDS THE NETWORK
CONFIGURATION INFORMATION.
2. DHCP CLIENT: IT IS THE ENDPOINT THAT GETS THE CONFIGURATION INFORMATION FROM THE
SERVER LIKE ANY COMPUTER OR MOBILE.
3. DHCP RELAY AGENT: IF YOU HAVE ONLY ONE DHCP SERVER FOR MULTIPLE LAN’S THEN THE DHCP
RELAY AGENT PRESENT IN EVERY NETWORK WILL FORWARD THE DHCP REQUEST TO THE SERVERS.
THIS BECAUSE THE DHCP PACKETS CANNOT TRAVEL ACROSS THE ROUTER. HENCE, THE RELAY AGENT
IS REQUIRED SO THAT DHCP SERVERS CAN HANDLE THE REQUEST FROM ALL THE NETWORKS.
4. IP ADDRESS POOL: IT CONTAINS THE LIST OF IP ADDRESS WHICH ARE AVAILABLE FOR ASSIGNMENT
TO THE CLIENT.
5. SUBNET MASK: IT TELLS THE HOST THAT IN WHICH NETWORK IT IS CURRENTLY PRESENT.
6. LEASE TIME: IT IS THE AMOUNT OF TIME FOR WHICH THE IP ADDRESS IS AVAILABLE TO THE CLIENT.
AFTER THIS TIME THE CLIENT MUST RENEW THE IP ADDRESS.
7. GATEWAY ADDRESS: THE GATEWAY ADDRESS LETS THE HOST KNOW WHERE THE GATEWAY IS TO
CONNECT TO THE INTERNET.
DHCP WORKS AT THE APPLICATION LAYER TO DYNAMICALLY ASSIGN THE IP ADDRESS TO THE CLIENT AND
THIS HAPPENS THROUGH THE EXCHANGE OF A SERIES OF MESSAGES CALLED DHCP TRANSACTIONS OR
DHCP CONVERSATION. THIS PROCESS INVOLVES FOUR PRIMARY STEPS, OFTEN SUMMARIZED AS DORA.
DHCP DISCOVERY: THE DHCP CLIENT BROADCAST MESSAGES TO DISCOVER THE DHCP SERVERS. THE CLIENT
COMPUTER SENDS A PACKET WITH THE DEFAULT BROADCAST DESTINATION OF 255.255.255.255 OR THE
SPECIFIC SUBNET BROADCAST ADDRESS IF ANY CONFIGURED. 255.255.255.255 IS A SPECIAL BROADCAST
ADDRESS , WHICH MEANS “ THIS NETWORK ”: IT LETS YOU SEND A BROADCAST PACKET TO THE NETWORK
YOU’RE CONNECTED TO.
DHCP OFFER: WHEN THE DHCP SERVER RECEIVES THE DHCP DISCOVER MESSAGE THEN IT SUGGESTS
OR OFFERS AN IP ADDRESS(FORM IP ADDRESS POOL) TO THE CLIENT BY SENDING A DHCP OFFER
MESSAGE TO THE CLIENT. THIS DHCP OFFER MESSAGE CONTAINS THE PROPOSED IP ADDRESS FOR
DHCP CLIENT, IP ADDRESS OF THE SERVER, MAC ADDRESS OF THE CLIENT, SUBNET MASK, DEFAULT
GATEWAY, DNS ADDRESS, AND LEASE INFORMATION.
1. THE PROPOSED IP ADDRESS FOR DHCP CLIENT (HERE 192.168.1.11)
2. SUBNET MASK TO IDENTIFY THE NETWORK (HERE 255.255.255.0)
3. IP OF THE DEFAULT GATEWAY FOR THE SUBNET (HERE 192.168.1.1)
4. IP OF DNS SERVER FOR NAME TRANSLATIONS (HERE 8.8.8.8)
DHCP REQUEST: IN MOST CASES, THE CLIENT CAN RECEIVE MULTIPLE DHCP OFFER BECAUSE IN A
NETWORK THERE ARE MANY DHCP SERVERS(AS THEY PROVIDE FAULT TOLERANCE). IF THE IP
ADDRESSING OF ONE SERVER FAILS THEN OTHER SERVERS CAN PROVIDE BACKUP. BUT, THE CLIENT
WILL ACCEPT ONLY ONE DHCP OFFER. IN RESPONSE TO THE OFFER, THE CLIENT SENDS A DHCP
REQUEST REQUESTING THE OFFERED ADDRESS FROM ONE OF THE DHCP SERVERS. ALL THE OTHER
OFFERED IP ADDRESSES FROM REMAINING DHCP SERVERS ARE WITHDRAWN AND RETURNED TO THE
POOL OF IP AVAILABLE ADDRESSES.
DHCP ACKNOWLEDGMENT: THE SERVER THEN SENDS ACKNOWLEDGMENT TO THE CLIENT
CONFIRMING THE DHCP LEASE TO THE CLIENT. THE SERVER MIGHT SEND ANY OTHER CONFIGURATION
THAT THE CLIENT MAY HAVE ASKED. AT THIS STEP, THE IP CONFIGURATION IS COMPLETED AND THE
CLIENT CAN USE THE NEW IP SETTINGS.
ADVANTAGES OF DHCP
IT IS EASY TO IMPLEMENT AND AUTOMATIC ASSIGNMENT OF AN IP ADDRESS MEANS AN ACCURATE IP ADDRESS.
THE MANUAL CONFIGURATION OF THE IP ADDRESS IS NOT REQUIRED. HENCE, IT SAVES TIME AND WORKLOAD FOR
THE NETWORK ADMINISTRATORS.
DUPLICATE OR INVALID IP ASSIGNMENTS ARE NOT THERE WHICH MEANS THERE IS NO IP ADDRESS CONFLICT.
IT IS A GREAT BENEFIT FOR MOBILE USERS AS THE NEW VALID CONFIGURATIONS ARE AUTOMATICALLY OBTAINED
WHEN THEY CHANGE THEIR NETWORK.
DISADVANTAGES OF DHCP
AS THE DHCP SERVERS HAVE NO SECURE MECHANISM FOR THE AUTHENTICATION OF THE CLIENT SO ANY NEW
CLIENT CAN JOIN THE NETWORK. THIS POSSES SECURITY RISKS LIKE UNAUTHORIZED CLIENTS BEING GIVEN IP
ADDRESS AND IP ADDRESS DEPLETION FROM UNAUTHORIZED CLIENTS.
THE DHCP SERVER CAN BE A SINGLE POINT OF FAILURE IF THE NETWORK HAS ONLY ONE DHCP SERVER.
