1. ARP ‘n RARP

2. The Address Resolution Protocol (ARP) is a request sent out by a computer to find another computer’s MAC address. It already knows the IP address!!! It sends the request to the router on the network the MAC address specifies to find the IP. Once the IP of the destination node is found, the packet is sent.

3. The Reverse Address Resolution Protocol, or RARP, finds the IP address based on the MAC address it is already aware of. It works likes the ARP only reverse!!

4. RARP uses the same packet format as ARP. But in a RARP request, the MAC headers, IP headers, and "operation code" are different from an ARP request. The RARP packet format contains places for MAC addresses of both destination and source. The source IP address field is empty. The broadcast goes to all devices on the network; therefore the destination IP address will be set to all binary 1s. Workstations running RARP have codes in ROM that direct them to start the RARP process, and locate the RARP server. Cisco Systems, 2001

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