IP Helper Address
As in any network, broadcasts are used to find and discover end systems. In a Layer 2 environment, you use broadcasts to find an end system's MAC address. Layer 3 of the TCP/IP model, IP also uses broadcasts for such services as sending IP datagrams to all hosts on a particular network. Broadcasts on any network consume CPU and bandwidth to reduce this even more. In an IP network, you use the IP helper address to change a broadcast into a more specific destination address so not all devices must view the IP data, which conserves bandwidth.
To save on bandwidth, all Cisco routers installed with Cisco Internet Operating System (IOS) software by default have an algorithm that dictates that not all broadcast packets be forwarded. ...
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