H3C Technologies H3C S12500-X Series Switches - Manual (Page 33)

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DHCP overview
The Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) provides a framework to assign configuration
information to network devices.
Figure 9 shows a typical DHCP application scenario where the DHCP clients and the DHCP server reside
on the same subnet. The DHCP clients can also obtain configuration parameters from a DHCP server on
another subnet through a DHCP relay agent. For more information about the DHCP relay agent, see
" Configuring the DHCP relay agent ."
Figure 9 A typical DHCP application
DHCP address allocation
Allocation mechanisms
DHCP supports the following allocation mechanisms:
• Static allocation—The network administrator assigns an IP address to a client, such as a WWW
server, and DHCP conveys the assigned address to the client.
• Automatic allocation—DHCP assigns a permanent IP address to a client.
• Dynamic allocation—DHCP assigns an IP address to a client for a limited period of time, which is
called a lease. Most DHCP clients obtain their addresses in this way.