ce07ed64   
   From: barmar@alum.mit.edu   
      
   In article   
   <5751d1b1-6079-421b-b4ab-9fd0c1578b25@i24g2000prf.googlegroups.com>,   
    SpreadTooThin  wrote:   
      
   > > What is "simple"?   
   > > Any network operation that needs to send IP packets to the host is likely   
   > > to put one of the host's MAC addresses into your computer's ARP table,   
   > > again provided the host is connected, working, and willing to answer the   
   > > network operation.   
   > >   
   >   
   > Reading deeper into the arp standard.. It would appear that there is a   
   > packet that can be broadcast called a gratuitous ARP packet, that says   
   > to the net,  "Here is an IP address, will who ever  owns it please   
   > report their MAC Address?"   T   
      
   That's a normal ARP query, not a gratuitous one.  "Gratuitous ARP"   
   usually refers to a machine sending an ARP query for its own IP.  IP   
   stacks often do this when an IP is assigned to a NIC (e.g. when the   
   machine is booted), to reset the caches of other machines on the network   
   (in case it has replaced a previous machine with the same IP).   
      
   --   
   Barry Margolin, barmar@alum.mit.edu   
   Arlington, MA   
   *** PLEASE don't copy me on replies, I'll read them in the group ***   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)