Every host or computer on a computer network has to have a unique address assigned to it, otherwise it is unknown which host information goes to. A network address is used to distinguish different hosts on a network, there are also many different addresses used to distinguish different devices on the network so that it is easier to know where the information is coming from, and where it is going. There are two different types of addresses used on a computer network, there is a physical hardware address, and a logical address.
The physical address used to distinguish each device/host on a network is known as the media access control (MAC) address. The MAC address has a 48-bit value, however it is commonly used with its hexadecimal form which would make it a 12 character hexadecimal number (12-hex) globally unique identifier soldered on to the read only memory of any network interface card (NIC). Each manufacturer of network adapters has addresses assigned to it by the institute of electrical and electronic engineers (IEEE) and the first 6 characters of the hexadecimal value is unique to the manufacturer. The last 6 characters is a unique hexadecimal number that is assigned to that particular network port, this theoretically means no two network boards should have the same MAC address. In order to send …show more content…
Although every host on a network has a physical hardware address, most of the work networks do with hosts has to do with their logical addresses, which is an address that can be assigned by the user themselves, the way it is assigned is based on the protocol being used, an internet protocol (IP) address can be used if the IP protocol is being used which is the most widely used protocol