On Thu, Jul 10, 2003 at 02:39:15PM +0300, Amir Sela wrote:
> >
> > An ARP request? What for? Is it to find the MAC of the default
> > gateway? ARP maps the MACs into IPs, doesn't it? An ARP request would
> > send the MAC address and expects to get in reply the IP that correspond
> > that MAC, isn't it?
> >
> Wrong. it's the other way around. When you ping x.x.x.x, the computer
> knows the IP already. You just typed it, didn't you? What it doesn't
> know is the MAC address of the computer with this IP, so proper
> one-to-one communication can't be established. So, an ARP request is
> sent to request that the computer with the pertaining IP reply its MAC
> address.
>
You are right that when I ping x.x.x.x I do know the IP address.
Yet according to the DSL-HOWTO/appendix.html
ARP
Address Resolution Protocol. Converts MAC addresses to IP
addresses.
The way I read this is that an ARP request would send the MAC and expect
the IP in return. That is, what is known is the MAC and what is looked
after is the IP. If my understanding is correct then what both of us are
missing is how this integrates into Ethernet communication.
--
Shaul Karl, [EMAIL PROTECTED] e t
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