Re: [ILUG-BOM] [OT] ARP Layer 2 or 3 ?

On Wednesday 18 January 2006 00:00, Shahed Moolji wrote:

For all you networking gurus :-

Is ARP considered to be a layer 2 or layer 3 protocol ?

I googled, but I cant still seem to get a proper answer.

Although I tend to agree that its a L3 protocol, it does not encapsulate a L3PDU on to the Data Link Layer, as its messages are put directly in the data part of the L2 frame.

Or is it best defined as a L3 protocol without any header ?

Thanks Shahed

Its a L3 protocol. I thought wikipedia can help. But its confusing me too right now. I tend to agree that it works with MAC addresses and MAC and LLC is a part of L3 but apparently ARP works with L2 and L3 addresses.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Address_Resolution_Protocol