<
networking, protocol> (ARP) A method for finding a
host's
Ethernet address from its
Internet address. The sender
broadcasts an ARP
packet containing the
Internet address
of another host and waits for it (or some other host) to send
back its Ethernet
address. Each host maintains a
cache of
address translations to reduce delay and loading. ARP allows
the Internet
address to be independent of the Ethernet
address
but it only works if all hosts support it.
ARP is defined in
RFC 826.
The alternative for hosts that do not do ARP is {constant
mapping}.
See also
proxy ARP,
reverse ARP.
(1995-03-20)