ARP Broadcast locates the correct host on the local network and passes traffic to the host using its MAC address.

ARP Broadcast locates the correct host on the local network and passes traffic to the host using its MAC address.

• A. DNS Query
• B. ARP Broadcast
• C. ICMP Echo
• D. DHCP Request

Answer: (B)

The key idea here is how a host learns the MAC address corresponding to an IP address on the local network. ARP works by sending a request to the broadcast MAC address, effectively asking, “Who owns this IP? Please send your MAC address.” The device that has that IP replies with its MAC, so the sender can encapsulate frames with the correct destination MAC and deliver the traffic. This broadcast mechanism is used only on the local network segment, which is why ARP is essential for getting data to the right host on a LAN. DNS queries resolve domain names to IP addresses, not to MAC addresses, so they don’t help with delivering frames on the local link. ICMP Echo is simply a ping used to check reachability, not to map IPs to MACs. DHCP requests are about obtaining IP configuration from a server, not about discovering the MAC address of the destination host.

The key idea here is how a host learns the MAC address corresponding to an IP address on the local network. ARP works by sending a request to the broadcast MAC address, effectively asking, “Who owns this IP? Please send your MAC address.” The device that has that IP replies with its MAC, so the sender can encapsulate frames with the correct destination MAC and deliver the traffic. This broadcast mechanism is used only on the local network segment, which is why ARP is essential for getting data to the right host on a LAN.

DNS queries resolve domain names to IP addresses, not to MAC addresses, so they don’t help with delivering frames on the local link. ICMP Echo is simply a ping used to check reachability, not to map IPs to MACs. DHCP requests are about obtaining IP configuration from a server, not about discovering the MAC address of the destination host.