You are reviewing basic networking and computing with a new

You are reviewing basic networking and computing with a new technician in your department and are discussing computer addressing on the network. What do you say is a computer’s MAC address?

A. This is the network address that is assigned by a DHCP server.

B. This is the network address that must be manually assigned by a technician.

C. This is an identifier assigned to a computer’s NIC by the manufacturer.

Solution

C. A computer’s network interface card, or NIC, is assigned a unique identifier at the factory called a Media Access Control address, or MAC address. This address is permanent on the computer unless you replace the unit with a different NIC. No two NICs have the same MAC address.