ARP Cache Management with Windows NT 3.5 and 3.51 (138362)
The information in this article applies to:
- Microsoft Windows NT Workstation 3.5
- Microsoft Windows NT Workstation 3.51
- Microsoft Windows NT Server 3.5
- Microsoft Windows NT Server 3.51
This article was previously published under Q138362 SUMMARY
The Address Resolution Protocol (ARP) allows a host to find the physical
medium access control (MAC) address of a destination host on the same
physical network given the destination IP address. To make ARP efficient,
each computer caches IP-to-MAC address mappings to eliminate repetitive ARP
broadcast requests. This article describes the feature that eliminates
unused ARP cache entries for higher cache efficiency.
MORE INFORMATION
Windows NT 3.5 and 3.51 cache management allows the ARP cache size to
change automatically by flushing it from unused entries. The process is
used to control ARP resources. Entries are aged out of the ARP cache if
they are not used for two minutes. Entries that are being used within the
first two minutes get aged out of the ARP cache after 10 minutes by
default. Static entries (entries entered manually using the ARP -S command)
are not aged out and remain in the ARP cache until the system is rebooted
or manually deleted (using the ARP -D command).
Currently, Windows NT 3.5 and 3.51 ARP cache management implementation does
not allow any changes to the ARP cache defaults. The initial 2 minute
lifetime and the 10 minute ArpCacheLife are not configurable.
| Modification Type: | Major | Last Reviewed: | 12/16/2003 |
|---|
| Keywords: | KB138362 |
|---|
|