Correct Answer:
B. DHCP
In network environments, devices require unique IP addresses to communicate. Manually configuring these addresses can be cumbersome and prone to errors, especially in large networks. The protocol designed to automate this process is DHCP.
- DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol) (B) is the correct answer. It automatically assigns IP addresses, subnet masks, default gateways, DNS server information, and other network configuration parameters to devices. This simplifies network administration and prevents IP address conflicts.
- DNS (Domain Name System) (A) is incorrect; DNS translates human-readable domain names (e.g., example.com) into IP addresses, but it does not assign IP addresses to devices.
- HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol) (C) is incorrect; HTTP is the foundation of data communication for the World Wide Web, used for transmitting web pages, not for IP address assignment.
- FTP (File Transfer Protocol) (D) is incorrect; FTP is used for transferring files between computers on a network and has no role in assigning IP addresses.
Therefore, DHCP is essential for efficient network management.