| Explanation & Hint:
Local hosts learn the MAC address of the default gateway.
This is the correct answer. ARP enables a host on a local network to discover the MAC address of the default gateway (usually a router), which is necessary to route traffic to a remote network. When a host sends a packet to a destination outside its local network, it uses ARP to find the MAC address of the default gateway. The packet is then sent to this MAC address, and the gateway routes it towards the remote network.
The destination MAC address FF-FF-FF-FF-FF-FF appears in the header of the Ethernet frame.
This is incorrect in the context of ARP’s role in sending traffic to remote networks. The MAC address FF-FF-FF-FF-FF-FF is a broadcast address used in ARP requests within a local network, particularly when a device is trying to discover the MAC address associated with an IP address. This broadcast address is not used for sending traffic to remote networks.
The source MAC address appears in the header of the Ethernet frame.
While this statement is true, it’s not specific to ARP’s functionality for remote network communication. The source MAC address is part of the Ethernet frame and is used to identify the sending device on the local network. This information is important in all Ethernet communications, not just in the context of ARP or communicating with remote networks.
The port-to-MAC address table on a switch has the same entries as the ARP table on the switch.
This statement is incorrect. The port-to-MAC address table (also known as the MAC address table) on a switch maps MAC addresses to switch ports, helping the switch efficiently forward frames within the local network. On the other hand, the ARP table maps IP addresses to MAC addresses. These tables serve different purposes and contain different types of information. Additionally, switches typically do not maintain ARP tables as this is a function of devices that use IP addressing, like routers and hosts. |