Reverse Address Resolution Protocol
Encyclopedia
The Reverse Address Resolution Protocol (RARP) is an obsolete computer networking protocol used by a host computer to request its Internet Protocol
(IPv4
) address from an administrative host, when it has available its Link Layer
or hardware address, such as a MAC
address.
RARP is described in Internet Engineering Task Force
(IETF) publication RFC 903. It has been rendered obsolete by the Bootstrap Protocol (BOOTP) and the modern Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol
(DHCP), which both support a much greater feature set than RARP.
RARP requires one or more server hosts to maintain a database of mappings of Link Layer addresses to their respective protocol addresses. Media Access Control
(MAC) addresses needed to be individually configured on the servers by an administrator. RARP was limited to serving only IP address
es.
Reverse ARP differs from the Inverse Address Resolution Protocol (InARP) described in RFC 2390, which is designed to obtain the IP address associated with another host's MAC address. InARP is the complement of the Address Resolution Protocol
used for the reverse lookup.
Internet Protocol
The Internet Protocol is the principal communications protocol used for relaying datagrams across an internetwork using the Internet Protocol Suite...
(IPv4
IPv4
Internet Protocol version 4 is the fourth revision in the development of the Internet Protocol and the first version of the protocol to be widely deployed. Together with IPv6, it is at the core of standards-based internetworking methods of the Internet...
) address from an administrative host, when it has available its Link Layer
Link Layer
In computer networking, the link layer is the lowest layer in the Internet Protocol Suite , the networking architecture of the Internet . It is the group of methods or protocols that only operate on a host's link...
or hardware address, such as a MAC
Media Access Control
The media access control data communication protocol sub-layer, also known as the medium access control, is a sublayer of the data link layer specified in the seven-layer OSI model , and in the four-layer TCP/IP model...
address.
RARP is described in Internet Engineering Task Force
Internet Engineering Task Force
The Internet Engineering Task Force develops and promotes Internet standards, cooperating closely with the W3C and ISO/IEC standards bodies and dealing in particular with standards of the TCP/IP and Internet protocol suite...
(IETF) publication RFC 903. It has been rendered obsolete by the Bootstrap Protocol (BOOTP) and the modern Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol
Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol
The Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol is a network configuration protocol for hosts on Internet Protocol networks. Computers that are connected to IP networks must be configured before they can communicate with other hosts. The most essential information needed is an IP address, and a default...
(DHCP), which both support a much greater feature set than RARP.
RARP requires one or more server hosts to maintain a database of mappings of Link Layer addresses to their respective protocol addresses. Media Access Control
Media Access Control
The media access control data communication protocol sub-layer, also known as the medium access control, is a sublayer of the data link layer specified in the seven-layer OSI model , and in the four-layer TCP/IP model...
(MAC) addresses needed to be individually configured on the servers by an administrator. RARP was limited to serving only IP address
IP address
An Internet Protocol address is a numerical label assigned to each device participating in a computer network that uses the Internet Protocol for communication. An IP address serves two principal functions: host or network interface identification and location addressing...
es.
Reverse ARP differs from the Inverse Address Resolution Protocol (InARP) described in RFC 2390, which is designed to obtain the IP address associated with another host's MAC address. InARP is the complement of the Address Resolution Protocol
Address Resolution Protocol
Address Resolution Protocol is a telecommunications protocol used for resolution of network layer addresses into link layer addresses, a critical function in multiple-access networks. ARP was defined by RFC 826 in 1982. It is Internet Standard STD 37...
used for the reverse lookup.