What does ARP stand for and what is its role in networking?

ARP stands for Address Resolution Protocol, and its role in networking is to map IP addresses to MAC addresses. This process is essential for enabling devices on the same local area network (LAN) to communicate with each other. When a device wants to send data to another device, it needs to know the MAC address associated with the destination IP address. ARP allows the sender to broadcast a request on the network to find out the corresponding MAC address of the target IP address.

When a device receives an ARP request that matches its IP address, it responds with its MAC address. This way, the sender can construct the correct data frame to send to the intended recipient, ensuring reliable communication at the data link layer. The implementation of ARP is critical in IPv4 networking, where devices rely on this protocol to determine the hardware address that aligns with a given IP address, enabling seamless data transfer across the network.