Operation Manual – ARPH3C S3100-52P Ethernet Switch Chapter 1 ARP Configuration1-1Chapter 1 ARP ConfigurationWhen configuring ARP, go to these sections for information you are interested in:z Introduction to ARPz Configuring ARPz Configuring Gratuitous ARPz Displaying and Debugging ARPz ARP Configuration ExamplesNote:z The ARP attack detection feature is added to this manual. For details, refer tosection Introduction to ARP Attack Detection.z The ARP packet rate limit feature is added to the manual. For details, refer tosection Introduction to ARP Packet Rate Limit.1.1 Introduction to ARP1.1.1 ARP FunctionAddress Resolution Protocol (ARP) is used to resolve an IP address into a data linklayer address.An IP address is the address of a host at the network layer. To send a network layerpacket to a destination host, the device must know the data link layer address (MACaddress, for example) of the destination host or the next hop. To this end, the IPaddress must be resolved into the corresponding data link layer address.Note:Unless otherwise stated, a data link layer address in this chapter refers to a 48-bitEthernet MAC address.1.1.2 ARP Message FormatARP messages are classified as ARP request messages and ARP reply messages.Figure 1-1 illustrates the format of these two types of ARP messages.
