Difference between arp and mac address table

[vishalpatil86]

Hi,

whats the difference between arp and mac address table?

can we use these terms interchangeably?

Thanks,

vishal

[InayathUlla Sharieff]

Vishal,

Simple answer :

ARP table is Layer3 address to Layer2 address resolution.

MAC Address Table is Layer2 address to interface binding

Examples ref:-

==========

Example  from "show arp". The IP address is matched to the Mac Address

Internet  192.168.200.3           3   0007.dddd.abc2  ARPA   Vlan4
Internet  192.168.200.10          6   000a.bbbb.a5ba  ARPA   Vlan4
Internet  192.168.200.17          -   0014.cccc.6c7b  ARPA   Vlan5
Internet  192.168.200.25        208   0005.aaaa.3b5a  ARPA   Vlan5

The mac-address-table Maps Mac Addresses to Physical Ports on a Switch

Example from "show mac-address-table" The Mac address is matched with the port Number.

MAC Address                                         Port the MAC was learned on

0021.d837.a6fc          Dynamic       1     FastEthernet3
0007.95dc.04c1          Dynamic       4     FastEthernet2

000a.95b0.a5aa          Dynamic       4     FastEthernet0

2)

can we use these terms interchangeably?

Yes and no based on the  person understanding, 

HTH

Regards

Inayath

*** Please dont forget to rate if this info is helpfull.

[InayathUlla Sharieff]

For your second question clearity:

The ARP table is your layer 3 to layer 2 resolution.  You examine this on your layer 3 device.

The mac-address-table is used by the switch.  It tells the switch which port to forward frames given a specific MAC address. It's the mac address to switchport resolution. The mac-address-table has nothing to do with IP addresses.

Hope this helps.

[vishalpatil86]

thank you soo much..

[aolverso · Accepted solution]

To add, a pure routers job is to forward packets based on layer 3 information. Therefore it will not have a mac-address-table. It will however have an arp table for your layer 3 to layer 2 resolution needed for encapsulating the packet to put on the wire.

[djthomassmith]

Is the MAC address table used to build the ARP table?

[Joseph W. Doherty]

No, as the MAC table doesn't have IPs.