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TCP/IP Address Resolution Protocol (ARP)
The most widely used network layer
protocol in the world—by far—is the TCP/IP
Internet Protocol. It's no surprise then,
that the most important address resolution protocol is the TCP/IP protocol
bearing the same name as the technique itself: the Address Resolution
Protocol (ARP). ARP is a full-featured dynamic
resolution protocol used to match IP addresses
to underlying data link layer addresses. Originally developed for Ethernet,
it has now been generalized to allow IP to operate over a wide variety
of layer two technologies.
In this section I describe the operation
and features of ARP. I begin with an overview of the protocol, and a
discussion of its defining standards and history. I briefly outline
how addresses are specified in ARP and its general operation, as well
as describing the message format used for ARP messages. I then turn
to the important matter of caching in ARP and how that is used to improve
performance. I conclude with a discussion of proxying in ARP, which
is needed to support special network connectivity situations.
 Related Information: For a discussion of ARP-related issues in networks with mobile IP devices, see the section on Mobile IP.
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Version 3.0 - Version Date: September 20, 2005
© Copyright 2001-2005 Charles M. Kozierok. All Rights Reserved.
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Background Information: The general explanation of address resolution, what it is, and how it works, can be found in 
Note: The Address Resolution Protocol described here is used for resolving unicast addresses in