DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol):

Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) is a protocol for assigning dynamic IP

addresses to devices on a network. With dynamic addressing, a device can have a different IP
address every time it connects to the network. In some systems, the device's IP address can even
change while it is still connected. DHCP also supports a mix of static and dynamic IP addresses.

HCP Simplifies Network Administration:

Dynamic addressing simplifies network administration because the software keeps track
of IP addresses rather than requiring an administrator to manage the task. This means that a new
computer can be added to a network without the hassle of manually assigning it a unique IP
address. Many ISPs use dynamic IP addressing for Internet subscribers.

Components of DHCP:
When working with DHCP, it’s important to understand all of the components.  Below is
a list of them and what they do:

DHCP server: A networked device running the DCHP service that holds IP addresses and
related configuration information. This is most typically a server or a router but could be
anything that acts as a host, such as an SD-WAN appliance.

DHCP client: The endpoint that receives configuration information from a DHCP server. This
can be a computer, mobile device, IoT endpoint or anything else that requires connectivity to the
network.  Most are configured to receive DHCP information by default.

IP address pool: The range of addresses that are available to DHCP clients. Addresses are
typically handed out sequentially from lowest to highest.

Subnet: IP networks can be partitioned into segments known as subnets. Subnets help keep
networks manageable.

Lease: The length of time for which a DHCP client holds the IP address information. When a
lease expires, the client must renew it.

DHCP relay: A router or host that listens for client messages being broadcast on that network
and then forwards them to a configured server. The server then sends responses back to the relay
agent that passes them along to the client. This can be used to centralize DHCP servers instead of
having a server on each subnet.

Benefits of DHCP:
1. Accurate IP configuration: The IP address configuration parameters must be exact and
when dealing with inputs such as “192.168.159.3”, it’s easy to make a mistake.
Typographical errors are typically very difficult to troubleshoot and the use of a DHCP
server minimizes that risk.
2. Reduced IP address conflicts: Each connected device must have an IP address. However,
each address can only be used once and a duplicate address will result in a conflict where
one or both of the devices cannot be connected. This can happen when addresses are
assigned manually, particularly when there are a large number of endpoints that only
connect periodically, such as mobile devices.  The use of DHCP ensures that each
address is only used once.
3. Automation of IP address administration: Without DHCP, network administrators would
need to assign and revoke addresses manually.  Keeping track of which device has what
address can be an exercise in futility as it’s nearly impossible to understand when devices
require access to the network and when they leave.  DHCP allows this to be automated
and centralized so network professionals can manage all locations from a single location.
4. Efficient change management: The use of DHCP makes it very simple to change
addresses, scopes or endpoints. For example, an organization may want to change its IP
addressing scheme from one range to another. The DHCP server is configured with the
new information and the information will be propagated to the new endpoints. Similarly,
if a network device is upgraded and replaced, no network configuration is required.

DNS (Domain Name Servers):

` Domain Name Servers (DNS) are the Internet's equivalent of a phone book. They
maintain a directory of domain names and translate them to Internet Protocol (IP) addresses. This
is necessary because, although domain names are easy for people to remember, computers or
machines, access websites based on IP addresses.
DNS Working:

The DNS directory that matches name to numbers isn’t located all in one place in some
dark corner of the internet. Like the internet itself, the directory is distributed around the world,
stored on domain name servers that all communicate with each other on a very regular basis to
provide updates and redundancies.

Each named site can correspond to more than one IP address. In fact, some sites have hundreds
or more IP addresses that correspond with a single domain name.

Another reason for the distributed nature of the directory is the amount of time it would take for
you to get a response when you were looking for a site if there was only one location for the
directory, shared among the millions, probably billions, of people also looking for information at
the same time. That’s one long line to use the phone book.

Instead, DNS information is shared among many servers, but is also cached locally on client
computers. Chances are that you use google.com several times a day. Instead of your computer
querying the DNS name server for the IP address of google.com every time, that information is
saved on your computer so it doesn’t have to access a DNS server to resolve the name with its IP
address. Additional caching can occur on the routers used to connect clients to the internet, as
well as on the servers of the user’s Internet Service Provider (ISP). With so much caching going
on, the number of queries that actually make it to DNS name servers is a lot lower than it would
seem.

DNS cache poisoning:

DNS cache poisoning can divert users to malicious Web sites. Attackers manage to insert
false address records into the DNS so when a potential victim requests an address resolution for
one of the poisoned sites, the DNS responds with the IP address for a different site, one
controlled by the attacker. Once on these phony sites, victims may be tricked into giving up
passwords or suffer malware downloads.