Chapter Summary
At the heart of LAN operation is the MAC address. The MAC address is the unique network adapter serial number distinguishing that network card from all others on the network. The MAC address is made up of two parts: the OUI and the vendor-assigned serial number.
Half-duplex Ethernet uses CSMA/CD as the LAN access method. When an Ethernet device wants to gain access to the network, it checks to see whether the network is quiet; if the network is not quiet, the device waits a random amount of time before retrying. If the network is quiet and two devices access the line at exactly the same time, their signals collide. When the collision is detected, they both back off and each waits a random amount of time before retrying
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