H3C Technologies H3C WX6000 Series Access Controllers - Manual (Page 160)

22-3
Figure 22-2 ARP address resolution process
If Host A is not on the same subnet with Host B, Host A first sends an ARP request to the gateway. The
target IP address in the ARP request is the IP address of the gateway. After obtaining the MAC address
of the gateway from an ARP reply, Host A sends the packet to the gateway. If the gateway maintains the
ARP entry of Host B, it forwards the packet to Host B directly; if not, it broadcasts an ARP request, in
which the target IP address is the IP address of Host B. After obtaining the MAC address of Host B, the
gateway sends the packet to Host B.
ARP Table
After obtaining the MAC address for the destination host, the device puts the IP-to-MAC mapping into its
own ARP table. This mapping is used for forwarding packets with the same destination in future.
An ARP table contains ARP entries, which fall into one of two categories: dynamic or static.
Dynamic ARP entry
A dynamic entry is automatically created and maintained by ARP. It can get aged, be updated by a new
ARP packet, or be overwritten by a static ARP entry. When the aging timer expires or the interface goes
down, the corresponding dynamic ARP entry will be removed.
Static ARP entry
A static ARP entry is manually configured and maintained. It cannot get aged or be overwritten by a
dynamic ARP entry.
Using static ARP entries enhances communication security. After a static ARP entry is specified, only a
specific MAC address is associated with the specified IP address. Attack packets cannot modify the
IP-to-MAC mapping. Thus, communications between devices are protected.
Static ARP entries can be classified into permanent or non-permanent.
A permanent static ARP entry can be directly used to forward packets. When configuring a
permanent static ARP entry, you must configure a VLAN and an outbound interface for the entry
besides the IP address and the MAC address.
A non-permanent static ARP entry has only an IP address and a MAC address configured. If the
outbound interface is a Layer 3 Ethernet interface, the non-permanent ARP entry can be directly
used for forwarding data; if the outbound interface is a VLAN interface, it cannot be directly used for
forwarding data. If a non-permanent static ARP entry matches an IP packet to be forwarded, the
device sends an ARP request first. If the sender IP and MAC addresses in the received ARP reply
are the same as those in the non-permanent static ARP entry, the device adds the interface