Editing Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (section)

====Client vendor identification====
An option exists to identify the vendor and functionality of a DHCP client. The information is a [[Variable-length code|variable-length string]] of characters or octets which has a meaning specified by the vendor of the DHCP client. One method by which a DHCP client can communicate to the server that it is using a certain type of hardware or firmware is to set a value in its DHCP requests called the Vendor Class Identifier (VCI) (Option 60).

The value to which this option is set gives the DHCP server a hint about any required extra information that this client needs in a DHCP response. Some types of [[set-top boxes]] set the VCI to inform the DHCP server about the hardware type and functionality of the device. An [[Aruba Networks|Aruba]] campus [[wireless access point]], for example, supplies value 'ArubaAP' as option 60 in its DHCPDISCOVER message.<ref name="option60">{{cite web|title=Aruba DHCP Option 60|date=7 October 2020 |url=https://the-ethernets.com/2020/10/aruba-dhcp-option-60/}}</ref> The DHCP server can then augment its DHCPOFFER with an IP address of an Aruba [[wireless controller]] in option 43, so the access point knows where to register itself.

Setting a VCI by the client allows a DHCP server to differentiate between client machines and process the requests from them appropriately.