2.1. Identifying a MAC Address and Its Parts
A unique Media Access Control (MAC) address is "burned into" each network interface card (NIC) (pronounced "nick") by the manufacturer of the NIC. The MAC address is a six-byte hexadecimal address that consists of two distinct parts. Each byte of the address consists of two hexadecimal digits. Bytes are separated by a hyphen (-). The first three bytes identify the manufacturer that created the NIC. The last three bytes should be unique for each NIC that the manufacturer produces. The purpose of this unique address is to identify the NIC, and there-fore the computer in which it is installed. Identifying each computer uniquely allows computers and software to address packets directly to that computer. ...
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