Part-2: MAC address in bangla | Types of MAC address | Unicast, Broadcast, Multicast MAC address.
Part-1- Introduction to MAC address: • Introduction to MAC Address in Computer Ne...
Importance of MAC & IP address: • Importance of IP & MAC address & Reason t...
MAC vs IP Address: • (20 different) Differences between IP addr...
Computer Network Full Playlist: • Computer Network In Bangla | কম্পিউটার নেট...
Wireless Ad Hoc Network Playlist: • [ওয়্যারলেস সেন্সর নেটওয়ার্ক] Wireless Sens...
Machine Learning full Playlist: • Machine Learning Playlist Bangla Tutorial ...
Management Information System Playlist: • Management Information System (MIS) in Ban...
Algorithm Playlist: • Algorithm in Bangla | অ্যালগরিদম বাংলা টিউ...
Data Structure Playlist: • Data Structure full playlist in Bangla | ড...
Introduction of MAC Address in Computer Network
In order to communicate or transfer the data from one computer to another computer, we need some address. In Computer Network various types of addresses are introduced; each works at a different layer. Media Access Control Address is a physical address that works at the Data Link Layer. In this article, we will discuss about addressing DLL, which is MAC Address.
Media Access Control (MAC) Address –
MAC Addresses are unique 48-bits hardware number of a computer, which is embedded into a network card (known as a Network Interface Card) during the time of manufacturing. MAC Address is also known as the Physical Address of a network device. In IEEE 802 standard, Data Link Layer is divided into two sublayers –
Logical Link Control(LLC) Sublayer
Media Access Control(MAC) Sublayer
MAC address is used by the Media Access Control (MAC) sublayer of the Data-Link Layer. MAC Address is worldwide unique since millions of network devices exist and we need to uniquely identify each.
Format of MAC Address –
MAC Address is a 12-digit hexadecimal number (6-Byte binary number), which is mostly represented by Colon-Hexadecimal notation. The First 6-digits (say 00:40:96) of MAC Address identifies the manufacturer, called OUI (Organizational Unique Identifier). IEEE Registration Authority Committee assigns these MAC prefixes to its registered vendors.
Here are some OUI of well-known manufacturers :
CC:46:D6 - Cisco
3C:5A:B4 - Google, Inc.
3C:D9:2B - Hewlett Packard
00:9A:CD - HUAWEI TECHNOLOGIES CO.,LTD
The rightmost six digits represent Network Interface Controller, which is assigned by the manufacturer.
As discussed above, the MAC address is represented by Colon-Hexadecimal notation. But this is just a conversion, not mandatory. MAC address can be represented using any of the following formats:
Note: Colon-Hexadecimal notation is used by Linux OS and Period-separated Hexadecimal notation is used by Cisco Systems.
How to find MAC address –
Command for UNIX/Linux - ifconfig -a
ip link list
ip address show
Command forWindows OS - ipconfig /all
MacOS - TCP/IP Control Panel
Note – LAN technologies like Token Ring, and Ethernet use MAC Addresses as their Physical address but there are some networks (AppleTalk) that do not use MAC addresses.
Types of MAC Address:
1. Unicast: A Unicast addressed frame is only sent out to the interface leading to a specific NIC. If the LSB (least significant bit) of the first octet of an address is set to zero, the frame is meant to reach only one receiving NIC. MAC Address of source machine is always Unicast.
2. Multicast: The multicast address allows the source to send a frame to a group of devices. In Layer-2 (Ethernet) Multicast address, LSB (least significant bit) of the first octet of an address is set to one. IEEE has allocated the address block 01-80-C2-xx-xx-xx (01-80-C2-00-00-00 to 01-80-C2-FF-FF-FF) for group addresses for use by standard protocols.
3. Broadcast: Similar to Network Layer, Broadcast is also possible on the underlying layer( Data Link Layer). Ethernet frames with ones in all bits of the destination address (FF-FF-FF-FF-FF-FF) are referred to as the broadcast addresses. Frames that are destined with MAC address FF-FF-FF-FF-FF-FF will reach every computer belonging to that LAN segment.
What is MAC Cloning:
