Why is an ARP query sent within a broadcast frame? Why is an ARP response sent within frame with a specific destination MAC address?
Try an answer before revealing the guidance below.
Key Concepts
- ARP request
- ARP reply
- Broadcast
- Unicast
- MAC address
Answer Approach
- Identify what information the sender already knows: the destination IP address.
- Identify what is missing: the destination MAC address.
- Ask whether a unicast frame can be addressed without that MAC address.
- Compare with the reply, where the requester’s MAC address is already known.
Full Answer
Answer status: Verified against study notes. Revision notes, not an official marking scheme.
The requester knows the target IP address but not its MAC address, so it broadcasts the query to all hosts on the local link. The request includes the requester’s MAC address. The target can therefore address its response directly to that MAC address as a unicast frame.
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