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Data Link Layer (graded) Network sniffing and analysis has become a critical and

ID: 3656074 • Letter: D

Question

Data Link Layer (graded) Network sniffing and analysis has become a critical and necessary element of work for systems administrators, network admin, network engineers, security analysts, and many other niches within the realm of information technology. Wireshark is a free tool that allows you to quickly investigate connectivity and application problems. Download, install, and capture some local traffic from your home network. What data link communications do you see taking place? Does anyone see a term called ARP? What might this mean?

Explanation / Answer

Address Resolution Protocol, a network layer protocol used to convert an IP address into a physical address (called a DLC address), such as an Ethernet address. A host wishing to obtain a physical address broadcasts an ARP request onto the TCP/IP network. The host on the network that has the IP address in the request then replies with its physical hardware address. There is also Reverse ARP (RARP) which can be used by a host to discover its IP address. In this case, the host broadcasts its physical address and a RARP server replies with the host's IP address.