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---
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title: MAC_addresses
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tags: [networks]
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created: Tuesday, August 06, 2024
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---
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# MAC addresses
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A Media Access Control (MAC) address is a physical address in contrast to, say,
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an IP address which is logical.
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Each device on a [local network](./Link_Layer_of_Internet_Protocol.md) has a MAC
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as a unique identifier. It is a hardware-based, physical attribute of the
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device, typically permanently encoded onto a non-volatile memory chip attached
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to the network card.
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MAC addresses consist of 6 bytes (48-bits) represented as 12
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[hexadecimal_digits](Hexadecimal_number_system.md).
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