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ARP
Address Resolution Protocol (ARP) is a crucial mechanism used in networking that allows the Internet Protocol (IP) to map an IP address to a corresponding physical address, commonly known as a Media Access Control (MAC) address. This protocol is essential for enabling devices within a Local Area Network (LAN) to communicate by translating IP addresses into specific hardware addresses.
When one device on a LAN wants to communicate with another, it needs to know the MAC address associated with the target device’s IP address. ARP facilitates this by sending out an ARP request, which broadcasts the target IP to all devices in the network. Each device checks the requested IP against its own. The device that recognizes the IP as its own responds with an ARP reply, which includes its MAC address.
Once the requesting device receives the MAC address, it updates its ARP cache—a table that stores IP-to-MAC address mappings—allowing it to send data directly to the correct hardware address.
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