Figure 5: Timeline diagram of messages exchanged between DHCP client and servers when reusing a previously allocated network address

Server          Client          Server

v               v               v
|               |               |
|             Begins            |
|         initialization        |
|               |               |
|              /|\              |
|  ___________/ | \___________  |
| /DHCPREQUEST  |  DHCPREQUEST\ |
|/              |              \|
|               |               |
Locates            |            Locates
configuration         |         configuration
|               |               |
|\              |              /|
| \             |  ___________/ |
|  \            | /  DHCPACK    |
|   \_______    |/              |
|    DHCPACK\   |               |
|         Initialization        |
|            complete           |
|              \|               |
|               |               |
|          (Subsequent          |
|            DHCPACKS           |
|            ignored)           |
|               |               |
|               |               |
v               v               v