We will use an analogy to explain the concept:

Analogy for DHCP: What is it, and why do we need it?

Imagine you are teaching 55 kids - and none of them have a name. It’s going to be pandemonium:

“You, get off the table - and you stop throwing things”

How would you communicate with those kids, and they with each other?

The situation is analogous to a post office receiving letters without To / From addresses: how would messages be delivered if they don’t have an address? How will they be returned, without a return address? Communication would be hampered. It is evident that everyone needs a name. Furthermore:

• What if 2 kids had the same name?
• What if a new kid enters the classroom and another kid leaves?
• How are you going to give everyone a unique name?

This is the problem DHCP attempts to solve: the teacher (or server) needs to name and identify all the kids in a classroom. The teacher needs to implement a naming protocol. That protocol is called: “DHCP”.

Computers and Networks

Students in a classroom are not dissimilar to computers in a network: how would they communicate with each other? How would names be assigned? You would need a teacher (i.e. a DHCP server) to assign names (IP addresses) to hosts (i.e. students).

Once everyone has a name, then everyone can communicate with each other, without conflict. You can configure other details too: e.g. who will liaise with the world outside: the “press secretary” (i.e. the default gateway) but the key take out, is to understand why we need DHCP and a high level overview of what it is.

Footnotes:

¹ Large class sizes are very common in places like India.