ARP Parameter Configuration

Address Resolution Protocol (ARP) is a standard IP protocol that enables an IP Layer 3 switch to obtain the MAC address of another device interface when the Layer 3 switch knows the IP address of the interface. ARP is enabled by default and cannot be disabled.

Note: RUCKUS Layer 2 switches also support ARP. However, the configuration options described later in this section apply only to Layer 3 switches, not to Layer 2 switches.

In this section:

  1. How ARP Works
    A Layer 3 switch needs to know a destination MAC address when forwarding traffic, because the Layer 3 switch encapsulates the IP packet in a Layer 2 packet (MAC layer packet) and sends the Layer 2 packet to a MAC interface on a device directly attached to the Layer 3 switch. The device can be the packet final destination or the next-hop router toward the destination.
  2. Rate limiting ARP Packets
  3. ARP Aging
  4. Configuring Global ARP Aging
  5. Configuring the ARP Aging on a Specific Interface
  6. Changing the Maximum Number of ARP Table Entries
    ARP table entries, including dynamic, static, and pending ARP entries, can be increased on a RUCKUS Layer 3 switch.
  7. Enabling Proxy ARP Globally
    Proxy ARP enables the Layer 3 switches to respond to ARP requests for devices on one network on behalf of devices in another network.
  8. Enabling Proxy ARP on an Interface
    Enabling proxy ARP at the interface level overrides the global proxy ARP.
  9. Disabling Proxy ARP on an Interface
    Use the following commands to disable the proxy ARP at the interface level.
  10. Static ARP
    Static ARP entries are added to the ARP cache when they are configured. Static ARP entries are useful in cases in which you want to preconfigure an entry for a device that is not connected to the Layer 3 switch, or you want to prevent a particular entry from aging out.
  11. Creating Static ARP Entries
    Static ARP entries are used to administratively define the IP-to-MAC address mappings or Layer 3-to-Layer 2 address mappings.
  12. Changing the Maximum Number of Static ARP Table Entries
    Static ARP table entries can be increased on a RUCKUS Layer 3 switch.
  13. Enabling Learning Gratuitous ARP
    Learning gratuitous ARP enables RUCKUS Layer 3 devices to learn ARP entries from incoming gratuitous ARP request packets from the hosts which are directly connected. This helps to achieve faster convergence for the hosts when they are ready to send traffic.
  14. Disabling Next Hop or ARP Port Movement Syslog Message Generation
    Whenever a port, on which a MAC address for an ARP is learned, is moved to a different port, a syslog message is generated by default.
  15. ARP Packet Validation
    You can enable validation options that check incoming ARP packets to avoid traffic interruption or loss.
  16. Ingress ARP Packet Priority
Parent topic: Address Resolution Protocol