A MAC address is known as the Ethernet hardware address, and it is comprised of 6-bytes. An unique MAC address is assigned to a Network Interface Card (NIC) to communicate with other devices in a network. IEEE is the authority managing MAC Addresses, and each hardware manufacturers must register with IEEE to allocate the MAC Prefix to be used by the vendor. By examining the first few bytes of the MAC Address, one can determine manufacturer of the NIC hardware.
Each byte of the MAC address is usually separated by a colon (:), but you may either use a colon or a dash (-) to separate the bytes.
The first 3 or more bytes of the MAC address is assigned to a manufacturer, and the manufacturer arbitarily assigns additional bytes to uniquely assign NIC cards. Here is a few examples of MAC prefixes assigned to vendors.
| MAC Prefix | Vendor |
| 00:00:00 | Xerox |
| 00:06:5B | Dell |
| 00:03:93 | Apple |
MAC address (Media Access Control address) is a unique identifier assigned to a network interface controller (NIC) for use as a network address in communications within a network segment. This use is common in most IEEE 802 networking technologies, including Ethernet, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth.
A MAC address consists of a sequence of six pairs of hexadecimal digits separated by colons, such as "00:06:5B:11:22:33". This format is standardized by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).
The MAC address is used by the network protocol to identify a unique device on the network. It serves as the hardware address of the device and is used by the data link layer of the OSI Model. The MAC address is used to specify a destination in a network frame and to ensure that the data is sent to the correct device.
MAC addresses are assigned to vendors by the IEEE. The IEEE assigns MAC addresses from a unique block of addresses to vendors, who then include the MAC address in the firmware of each network interface controller (NIC) they produce. The MAC address is unique to each NIC, so each device that connects to a network has its own unique MAC address.
The assignment of MAC addresses to vendors is managed by the IEEE's Registration Authority, which is responsible for allocating blocks of MAC addresses to vendors and ensuring that the assignment process is managed fairly and efficiently.
The assignment of MAC addresses to vendors is based on a hierarchical structure, with the most significant bits of the MAC address identifying the vendor and the remaining bits specifying the specific device. This structure ensures that MAC addresses are globally unique and allows network administrators to determine the manufacturer of a device based on its MAC address.
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