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Ipv6 And Ipv6 Address Resolution Protocol

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Since there are so many IP addresses that need to be handled on the Internet, IPv4 and IPv6 need a way to keep track and configure them. This is normally referred to as address resolution. This includes translating network layer addresses into link layer addresses, having automatic assignments of addresses, and routing data to the correct location on a specific network. IPv4 uses a protocol called Address Resolution Protocol, or ARP, in order to translate IP addresses into MAC addresses. A MAC address is the unique number given to the network interface card in each computing device. The reason this needs to be done is because on many intranet networks, the internal communication and delivery of data is based off of the MAC address rather than the IP address. The Dynamic Host Control Protocol, or DHCP, handles the automatic configuration and assignment of IP addresses in IPv4. DHCP is an internal protocol that takes the MAC addresses of the NICs on a network, and automatically assigns IP addresses. It also keeps track of them so that two NICs don’t acquire the same IP address. Without DHCP every IP address would have to be entered manually by the system administrator, which would be incredibly difficult considering how many devices can potentially access a network. IPv6 uses similar methods to perform both of those functions, but there are still important differences that exist to improve the way that IPv6 performs. Instead of ARP, IPv6 uses the Neighbor Discovery Protocol

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