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Network Layer Protocols

The document discusses several network layer protocols including ARP, RARP, ICMP, and IGMP. ARP is used to associate IP addresses with MAC addresses on a local network. RARP is used to obtain an IP address from a server. ICMP handles error and control messages at the network layer. IGMP allows hosts and routers to support IP multicast groups.

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Ashu Chauhan
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
28 views

Network Layer Protocols

The document discusses several network layer protocols including ARP, RARP, ICMP, and IGMP. ARP is used to associate IP addresses with MAC addresses on a local network. RARP is used to obtain an IP address from a server. ICMP handles error and control messages at the network layer. IGMP allows hosts and routers to support IP multicast groups.

Uploaded by

Ashu Chauhan
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Network Layer

Network Layer Protocols


ARP
• ARP stands for Address Resolution Protocol.
• It is used to associate an IP address with the MAC address.
• Each device on the network is recognized by the MAC address imprinted on the NIC.
Therefore, we can say that devices need the MAC address for communication on a local
area network. MAC address can be changed easily. For example, if the NIC on a particular
machine fails, the MAC address changes but IP address does not change. ARP is used to find
the MAC address of the node when an internet address is known.
• If the host wants to know the physical
address of another host on its
network, then it sends an ARP query
packet that includes the IP address and
broadcast it over the network. Every
host on the network receives and
processes the ARP packet, but only the
intended recipient recognizes the IP
address and sends back the physical
address. The host holding the
datagram adds the physical address to
the cache memory and to the
datagram header, then sends back to
the sender.
Steps taken by ARP
• The device will first look at its internet list, called the ARP cache to check whether an IP
address contains a matching MAC address or not. It will check the ARP cache in command
prompt by using a command arp-a.
• If ARP cache is empty, then device broadcast the message to the entire network asking each
device for a matching MAC address.
• The device that has the matching IP address will then respond back to the sender with its
MAC address
• Once the MAC address is received by the device, then the communication can take place
between two devices.
• If the device receives the MAC address, then the MAC address gets stored in the ARP cache.
We can check the ARP cache in command prompt by using a command arp -a.
Two types of ARP entries
• Dynamic entry: It is an entry which is created automatically when the sender broadcast its
message to the entire network. Dynamic entries are not permanent, and they are removed
periodically.
• Static entry: It is an entry where someone manually enters the IP to MAC address
association by using the ARP command utility.
RARP
• RARP stands for Reverse Address Resolution Protocol.
• If the host wants to know its IP address, then it broadcast
the RARP query packet that contains its physical address to
the entire network. A RARP server on the network
recognizes the RARP packet and responds back with the
host IP address.
• The protocol which is used to obtain the IP address from a
server is known as Reverse Address Resolution Protocol.
• The message format of the RARP protocol is similar to the
ARP protocol.
• Like ARP frame, RARP frame is sent from one machine to
another encapsulated in the data portion of a frame.
ICMP
• ICMP stands for Internet Control Message Protocol.
• The ICMP is a network layer protocol used by hosts and routers to send the notifications of IP datagram
problems back to the sender.
• ICMP uses echo test/reply to check whether the destination is reachable and responding.
• ICMP handles both control and error messages, but its main function is to report the error but not to
correct them.
• An IP datagram contains the addresses of both source and destination, but it does not know the
address of the previous router through which it has been passed. Due to this reason, ICMP can only
send the messages to the source, but not to the immediate routers.
• ICMP protocol communicates the error messages to the sender. ICMP messages cause the errors to be
returned back to the user processes.
• ICMP messages are transmitted within IP datagram.
ICMP
• The first field specifies the type of the
message.
• The second field specifies the reason for a
particular message type.
• The checksum field covers the entire ICMP
message.
Five types of errors are handled by the ICMP protocol:

• Destination unreachable
• Source Quench
• Time Exceeded
• Parameter problems
• Redirection
IGMP
• IGMP stands for Internet Group Message Protocol.
The IP protocol supports two types of communication:
• Unicasting: It is a communication between one sender
and one receiver. Therefore, we can say that it is one-to-
one communication.
• Multicasting: Sometimes the sender wants to send the
same message to a large number of receivers
simultaneously. This process is known as multicasting
which has one-to-many communication.
• The IGMP protocol is used by the hosts and router to
support multicasting.
• The IGMP protocol is used by the hosts and router to
identify the hosts in a LAN that are the members of a
group.
IGMP
• IGMP is a part of the IP layer, and IGMP has a fixed-size message.
• The IGMP message is encapsulated within an IP datagram.

• The Format of IGMP message

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