Which protocol maps a MAC address to an IP address?

Which protocol maps a MAC address to an IP address?

• A. Reverse Address Resolution Protocol
• B. Address Resolution Protocol
• C. Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol
• D. Domain Name System

Answer: (A)

MAC-to-IP lookup is handled by a reverse lookup protocol. Reverse ARP is designed to take a device’s MAC address and return the corresponding IPv4 address, allowing a host to learn its own IP without prior configuration. This is the opposite direction of ARP, which maps an IP address to a MAC address. DHCP or BOOTP, while they do assign an IP address to a host, do not map a MAC to an IP; DNS translates domain names to IPs. So the protocol that maps a MAC address to an IP address is Reverse ARP.

MAC-to-IP lookup is handled by a reverse lookup protocol. Reverse ARP is designed to take a device’s MAC address and return the corresponding IPv4 address, allowing a host to learn its own IP without prior configuration. This is the opposite direction of ARP, which maps an IP address to a MAC address. DHCP or BOOTP, while they do assign an IP address to a host, do not map a MAC to an IP; DNS translates domain names to IPs. So the protocol that maps a MAC address to an IP address is Reverse ARP.