History and Future of ARP
ARP was first talked about in a document called Request for Comments 826, written by David C. Plummer in November 1982. Back then, there was a problem with figuring out addresses because Ethernet, the popular network technology, needed 48-bit addresses.
But now, with IP version 6 (IPv6) addresses, which are much longer at 128 bits, we use something called the Neighbor Discovery protocol instead of ARP to get configuration info. Even though IPv4 addresses are still more common, IPv6 is getting more popular, especially with the rise of Internet of Things (IoT) devices that need IP addresses. Neighbor Discovery works in a different layer of the network and uses a protocol called Internet Control Message Protocol version 6 to find nearby devices.
How Address Resolution Protocol (ARP) Works?
When computer programs send or get messages, they usually use something called an IP address, which is like a virtual address. But underneath, the real talk happens using another type of address called a MAC address, which is like a device’s actual home address.
So, our goal is to find out the MAC address of where we want to talk to. That’s where ARP comes in handy. It helps by turning the IP address into the physical MAC address, so we can chat with other devices on the network
Most computer programs/applications use logical addresses (IP Addresses) to send/receive messages. However, the actual communication happens over the Physical Address (MAC Address) from layer 2 of the OSI model. So our mission is to get the destination MAC Address which helps communicate with other devices. This is where ARP comes into the picture; its functionality is to translate IP addresses into physical addresses.