What is the full form of MAC?

The full form of MAC is the Media Access Control Address. The MAC address is known as the hardware id number. In particular, each computer’s NIC (network interface card), including a Bluetooth, Wi-Fi card or Ethernet card, has an unchanged MAC address inserted by the manufacturer at the time of production. A few well-recognized NIC manufacturing companies include Nortel, Dell, Nortel and Cisco. By substituting the NIC cards, one might alter the given default address of the system.

Bref history of MAC

• As far as history is concerned, humans can assume that Xerox PARC researchers established the presence of MAC addresses.
• There are several related concepts that are used in the position of MAC address like physical address, hardware address, ethernet hardware address of a network device.
• Even BIA (burned-in address particularly for Cisco Router Switches) often refers to the same.

Features of MAC

• The NIC is a computer circuit card that allows users to connect to a network on their computer. It turns the information into an electrical signal which can be transmitted over the internet.
• So, in a system, there is a hardware address, including an IP address.
• IP addresses are connected to TCP / IP, while network adapter hardware is aligned with MAC addresses.
• The first six digits of the MAC address focus on providing manufacturer data; it is referred to as OUI (Organizational Unique Identifier).
• A Network Interface control system, allocated by the manufacturing company, is identified by the last six digits.
• The number is recognized automatically by the network and we do not need to remember the address.
• The IEEE Registration Authority Committee assigns the MAC prefixes to their licenced vendors.

Benefits of MAC

• There are free or no attachment costs associated with systems that connect to a network.
• They have a policy set for the switch. Whether it has mounted authorized machinery or attached non – authorized equipment regardless of the individual attached to it.
• The MAC addresses are unique for all users on the same subnet of the network.
• The effectiveness of MAC addresses makes it simple to diagnose network problems related to IP addresses, and so on.
• A network manager finds consistency in recognizing sending and receiving of information on the network with the aid of MAC address.
• The only explanation behind this is that MAC addresses do not alter over time, unlike dynamic IP addresses.

Limitations of MAC

• Since the first three bytes (OUI) of a MAC address are reserved for the producer, it is restricted to only 2 ^ 24 unique addresses per OUI by the same producer.
• For MAC address sorting, we could claim to spoof easy. Due to the broadcast nature of Ethernet, one can function in disguise and only listen to and from approved MAC addresses.
• In most instances, by continually changing his MAC address to one that is allowed, an attacker may gain network access.