Address Resolution - Bay Networks Nautica 200 Reference Manual

NauticaRS Release 4.1 Reference Guide

Address Resolution

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In this way a Class B address can be translated into multiple Class
C addresses, which extends the number of addresses available.
Example: assigning an IP address of 129.46.0.0 with a maximum
of 253 node addresses leaves 8 bits free for use as a subnet
address, so the IP address 126.46.97.235 is interpreted as IP
address 129.46, subnet number 97 and node number 235.
Subnet addressing also allows network managers to construct
address schemes for their networks by using different subnets for
different geographical locations, or for different departments in
the organization.
An IP address alone cannot be used to deliver data to another
device on a LAN. To send data to another point on the network,
the IP address must be converted to a unique identifier for the
destination device on an Ethernet LAN. Each device on an
Ethernet LAN has a unique Ethernet MAC (Media Access
Control) address. This is a 48-bit number, usually assigned by the
manufacturer. Some devices may have more than one MAC
address for multiple connections to Ethernet networks.
Converting an IP address to a matching MAC address is called
address resolution. Unless the router can resolve the network IP
address to the Ethernet MAC address, it cannot send the data
explicitly to the correct device on the LAN. IP uses ARP
(Address Resolution Protocol) to do this.
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