Destination Mac Address Flashcards, test questions and answers
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What is Destination Mac Address?
A destination MAC address is the physical hardware address of a device on a computer network. It is also known as a media access control (MAC) address and is distinct from the IP address assigned to each device that allows it to communicate with other devices in a network. A MAC address is typically represented as six groups of two hexadecimal digits, separated by colons or hyphens.The purpose of the destination MAC address is to identify the intended recipient of an Ethernet frame within a local area network (LAN). Each packet sent over the LAN contains both source and destination MAC addresses in its header, which allows it to be routed to its proper destination. The router or switch examines these addresses when forwarding packets and compares them against its internal tables to determine which port should receive that packet. The source and destination MAC addresses are both important for effective communication between two computers on the same LAN. Without one or both of these addresses, data would not reach its intended recipient because there would be no way for the router or switch to know where it should be sent. Because each device has its own unique destination MAC address, it can easily be identified by other devices in a LAN environment even if their IP address changes due to DHCP transactions or other reconfigurations. This makes it possible for devices across different networks that do not have static IP addresses – such as mobile phones – can still communicate with each other using their respective MAC addresses instead of relying solely on IP addressing schemes.