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What is the purpose of Router Solicitation (RS) in IPv6?

  1. To assign IP addresses to clients

  2. To inquire about available routes from routers

  3. To acknowledge received messages from the router

  4. To establish a link with a DHCP server

The correct answer is: To inquire about available routes from routers

Router Solicitation (RS) messages are an essential part of the Neighbor Discovery Protocol in IPv6. The primary purpose of RS is to enable a host to request information about the routers on its local network. When a device connects to a network, it sends out an RS message to solicit Router Advertisements (RA) from any reachable routers. The routers respond with an RA message that contains useful information, such as their IP address, network prefix, and various configuration options. This interaction allows the host to learn about available routes, making option B the correct answer. The other choices highlight functionalities that do not directly relate to the purpose of RS. For example, assigning IP addresses is typically managed by DHCP for IPv4 and Stateless Address Autoconfiguration (SLAAC) for IPv6, but not through RS. Acknowledging received messages from the router does not pertain to RS either—acknowledgment is a different type of message not performed by RS. Establishing a link with a DHCP server is relevant to DHCP for configuration, which is also outside the scope of RS's purpose in the context of IPv6.