DHCP

Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) is a network management protocol that automates the assignment of IP addresses.

DHCP assigns networking parameters such as subnet mask, default gateway address, and DNS.

When using DHCP, a device goes through the following steps:

1. Device sends a request for an IP address picked by a DHCP server
2. Server responds by delivering an IP address to the user’s device
3. DHCP monitors the use of the IP address
4. DHCP takes the IP address after after some time or when the user’s device shuts down
5. DHCP server manages the pool of addresses which the IP address you use returns to

Droplets created from custom images use DHCP to obtain an IP address from the DigitalOcean platform. The custom image’s network configuration doesn’t require any additional setup to use DHCP.