ARP

What is ARP ARP (Address Resolution Protocol) is a network protocol defined in RFC 826 by the IETF in 1982. In TCP/IP networks, it dynamically discovers the MAC address (physical address) associated with a given IP address. It sits at the boundary between Layer 2 (Data Link Layer) and Layer 3 (Network Layer) of the OSI 7-layer model and maps logical addresses (IP) to physical addresses (MAC). In network communication, actual data transmission between devices relies on MAC addresses. The upper layer (Network Layer) works with IP addresses, but the lower layer (Data Link Layer) needs the destination’s MAC address to send packets. ARP performs this IP-to-MAC conversion. It broadcasts a query across the network, and only the device that owns the target IP responds. Because of this, ARP is an essential protocol in most local network environments, including Ethernet networks. ...