Routing And Switching Questions
A DHCP server is responsible for assigning IP addresses and other network configuration parameters to devices on a local network. It manages a pool of available IP addresses and leases them to devices when they connect to the network.
On the other hand, a DHCP relay agent is used in situations where the DHCP server is located on a different network segment than the devices requesting IP addresses. The relay agent receives DHCP requests from devices and forwards them to the DHCP server. It also relays the DHCP server's response back to the requesting devices.
In summary, the main difference between a DHCP server and a DHCP relay agent is that the server directly assigns IP addresses, while the relay agent forwards DHCP requests and responses between devices and the server when they are on different network segments.