Physical Address: MAC Address
A media access control address(MAC) is a unique identifier assigned to a network interface controller for use within a network segment as a network address in communications. This is commonly used in most IEEE802 network technologies, including Ethernet, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. But how it can be our physical address. In our daily life physical address mean your address, which is all about where you come from, which place, region, area or so on. I would assume that your physical address will be any place where you were present at any given time. Just imagine at any moment when your friends come to you and ask you, hi buddy, can give me your address and you’ll be like yeah my home address is 3C-95–09–01-FE. Everyone’s response at that moment would be like what we’re asking you where you are physically present and you be like yeah it’s my MAC address you have to just trace it. I think this is the future, in this current period when privacy is our major concern and we know how valuable it is nowadays. where Mozilla(Firefox) is the only which is giving privacy and presenting our data. But along with that, we should have basic knowledge about MAC address also
What is a MAC Address?
The MAC address is a specific attribute associated with an adapter to a network. The MAC addresses are also known as physical addresses or hardware addresses. We recognize an adapter that is unique on a LAN. The MAC addresses are hexadecimal numbers (length 48 bits) of 12 digits. MAC addresses are usually written in one of the following formats, by convention:
MM:MM:MM:SS:SS:SS, MMMM-MMSS-SSSS
The first half of a MAC address (24 BITS) contains the adapter fabricator’s ID number. Such identifiers are governed by a set of Internet standards. The second half of a MAC address (24 MORE BITS) reflects the serial number the supplier assigns to the adapter. In the example, 00:A0:C9:14:C8:29 The prefix 00A0C9 indicates the manufacturer is Intel Corporation.
Why MAC Addresses?
Recall that TCP/IP and other mainstream networking architectures generally adopt the OSI model. In this model, network functionality is subdivided into layers. MAC addresses function at the data link layer (layer 2 in the OSI model). They allow computers to uniquely identify themselves on a network at this relatively low level.
What are MAC addresses used for?
MAC addresses are the basics of low level which make your ethernet-based network work. Every network card has a unique MAC Address. Packets sent over the ethernet always come from a MAC address and are sent to a MAC address. When a network adapter receives a packet, then it compares the destination MAC address of the packet to the MAC address of the adapter itself. If the addresses suit, it handles the packet, otherwise it will be discarded.
Find a MAC address in Windows
In Windows 95, Windows 98 and Windows ME, MAC addresses are shown on the winipcfg utility. The ipconfig utility (using the /all option) can also be used in Windows NT and any newer versions of Windows. Winipcfg and ipconfig are both capable of viewing multiple MAC addresses. Next, one MAC address is shown for each adapter to the network. Instead, for other network adapters, one or more additional MAC addresses are shown.
Find a MAC address in Unix or Linux
The basic command used in Unix for finding a MAC address can differ depending on the operating system’s “flavour.” The ifconfig -a command returns MAC address in Linux, and some Unix versions. For Unix and Linux, it is also possible to locate MAC addresses by reading the message boot sequence, either on-screen as the device boots or from the message file initialization. The boot message log file is typically /var /log / messages, or /var / adm / messages.
A key element of computer networking is the MAC address. The MAC addresses mark a device on the LAN in a unique way. MAC is an important component needed for running network protocols such as TCP / IP. Computer operating systems and broadband routers support viewing and sometimes changing MAC addresses. Some ISPs track their customers by MAC address. Changing a MAC address can be necessary in some cases to keep an Internet connection working. Changing MAC addresses may also increase privacy in some situations, though MAC addresses do not reveal any geographic or ISP location information like IP addresses do.
Maybe in future, our MAC address will be our new address
