A MAC address is best described as which of the following?

A MAC address is best described as which of the following?

• A. A logical address used by routers
• B. A temporary address assigned by DHCP
• C. An IP address
• D. A unique hardware address assigned to NICs by manufacturers

Answer: (B)

A MAC address is a unique hardware identifier assigned to network interface cards by manufacturers. It operates at the data-link layer to identify devices on a local network, and frames on Ethernet carry the source and destination MAC addresses so switches can deliver data to the correct NICs within the same network segment. IP addresses, used by routers, are logical addresses for routing between networks, not the hardware identifier used inside a local LAN. DHCP assigns IP addresses to devices for network configuration, not MAC addresses. So the best description is that a MAC address is a unique hardware address assigned to NICs by manufacturers.

A MAC address is a unique hardware identifier assigned to network interface cards by manufacturers. It operates at the data-link layer to identify devices on a local network, and frames on Ethernet carry the source and destination MAC addresses so switches can deliver data to the correct NICs within the same network segment. IP addresses, used by routers, are logical addresses for routing between networks, not the hardware identifier used inside a local LAN. DHCP assigns IP addresses to devices for network configuration, not MAC addresses. So the best description is that a MAC address is a unique hardware address assigned to NICs by manufacturers.