Advanced Computer Technology

Most of the time when connecting to a network, your computer will utilize the DHCP (dual host control protocol). What DHCP does is it automatically sets up your network connection by telling your computer what it's IP address will be on the network, as well as the IP addresses of the gateway, DNS servers, and the subnet mask.

Wait...what?

Remember, an IP address is a number that your computer uses to identify itself on a network. Think of it like a telephone: if you are going to call someone, you need to know what number to dial.

A network gateway is a device that allows your computer to connect to other networks, such as the internet. Typically, network utilities such as a DHCP server reside on the network gateway device. This device could be an entire computer/server, or just a router.

A DNS server translates IP addresses into alpha numeric names. For example, the IP address of OHSU's website homepage is 66.147.244.189. When you type openhighschool.org into your browser's address bar, your browser asks a DNS server what IP address belongs to that URL. NOTE: If you copy this IP address directly into your address bar, it will take you directly to the website, just like when you type in the URL.

The subnet mask simply identifies which part of a network your computer will reside in.

So, let's take a look at an actual network connection. Click Start>Control Panel>Network Connections, then right click on your local area connection. Select Properties. From the list, select TCP/IP and click the Properties button.

Here you will see a set of fields where you could manually enter the IP addresses of each of the items we have just discussed. Yours will have the "obtain IP address automatically" option selected. This is because you are using the DHCP to automatically download and apply this information.