ARP (Address Resolution Protocol) is used to convert the IP address to its corresponding Ethernet (MAC) address. When a packet comes to the network layer (OSI), it has an IP address and a data-link layer packet that needs the MAC address of the destination device. In this case, the sender uses the ARP.
The term address resolution refers to the process of finding the MAC address of a computer in a network. The following are the two types of ARP messages that might be sent by the ARP:
- The ARP request
- The ARP reply