NETGEAR PS100 - Manual (Page 132)

NetGear Print Server Manual
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Address Resolution Protocol
An IP address alone cannot be used to deliver data from one device to another on a LAN. In order for
data to be sent from one device on the LAN to another, you must convert the IP address of the
destination device to its media access control (MAC) address. Each device on an Ethernet network has
a unique Ethernet MAC address, which is a 48-bit number assigned to each device by the manufacturer.
The technique that associates the IP address with a MAC address is known as address resolution, and
IP uses the Address Resolution Protocol (ARP) to do this.
If a device needs to send data to another station on the network and it does not already have the
destination MAC address recorded, ARP is used. An ARP request is broadcast onto the network, and
all stations receive and read the request. The destination IP address for the chosen station is included as
part of the message so that only the station with this IP address responds to the ARP request and all
other nodes discard it.
The node with the right IP address responds with its own MAC address directly to the sender,
providing the transmitting station with the destination MAC address needed for it to send the data. The
IP address data and MAC address data for each node are held in an ARP table, so that the next time
data needs to be sent, the address can be obtained from the address information in the table.
IP Configuration by DHCP
When an IP-based local area network is installed, each workstation must be configured with an IP
address. If the workstations need to access the Internet, they should also be configured with a gateway
address and one or more DNS server addresses. As an alternative to manual configuration, there is a
method by which each device on the network can obtain this configuration information automatically.
A device on the network may act as a Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) server. The
DHCP server stores a list or pool of IP addresses, along with other information (such as gateway and
DNS addresses) that it may assign to the other devices on the network. The NETGEAR Model
RT328/RH348 router has the capacity to act as a DHCP server.