Since it is obviously infeasible to have an equivalent of ARP when transmitting multicast If you aren't interested and reading this but just need to do a conversion you can skip ahead to the Address Converter Tool. For IP multicast specifically, the Ethernet prefix In the Ethernet world, a multicast MAC address is distinguished by a binary '1' in the least If you are looking for something to test IP multicast on your network you might like to check out our free (but very unfinished !) IP Multicast Tester Ethernet Addressing For the honours students, they are distinguished by the World, they would have been called Class D addresses (although nowadays it is not considered polite It can be configured manually or it can be obtained from a DHCP server.Multicast IP addresses fall within the range 224.0.0.0 - 239.255.255.255. In contrast to MAC address, an IP address is a logical address. 10.0.0.0), while the second part of the address identifies the host device (e.g. 10.0.50.1). The first part of the address represents the network the device is on (e.g. For example, in order to access the Internet, your computer will need to have an IP address assigned (usually obtained by your router from the ISP).Īn IP address is usually written in the form of four decimal numbers seperated by periods (e.g. Each device that wants to communicate with other devices on a TCP/IP network needs to have an IP address configured. You should see your MAC address referred to as HWaddress.Īn IP address is a 32-bit number that identifies a host on a network. If you are using Linux, type the ifconfig command. Type the ipconfig/all command and you should see a field called Physical Address under the Ethernet adapter settings: If you are using Windows, start the Command Prompt (Start – Programs – Accessories – Command Prompt). For example, consider the following MAC address: D8-D3-85-EB-12-E3Įvery hexadecimal character represents 4 bits, so the first six hexadecimal characters represent the vendor ( Hewlett Packard in this case). MAC addresses are usually written in the form of 12 hexadecimal digits. The manufacturer then assigns a unique value for the last 3 bytes, which ensures that every MAC address is globaly unique.

Manufacturers agree to give all NICs a MAC address that begins with the assigned OUI. It is a hardware address, which means that it is stored in the firmware of the network card.Įvery network card manufacturer gets a universally unique 3-byte code called the Organizationally Unique Identifier (OUI). A Media Access Control (MAC) address is a 48-bit (6 bytes) address that is used for communication between two hosts in an Ethernet environment.

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