02-10-2023 02:13 PM
Hi,
When pinging a device via IP address why is it important to know the MAC address? Why not just reach device via IP address?
i.e. I want to reach a server with IP = 23.3.4.4; why not just reach the sever with out having to discover the MAC address?
Why is having the MAC address essential to reaching a device? I know it is net 101 to get the MAC, but why?
cheers,
Anthony
02-10-2023 02:27 PM
keith explain in a better way :
02-10-2023 03:30 PM
Because an IP is a logical address at L3 (like your name). To reach it, you must pass through L2 (like your phone number).
A MAC address is bound to physical media (hence its name) (see https://en.wikipedia.org//wiki/MAC_address for more info.)
02-11-2023 12:36 AM
@adsuther1 wrote:
Why not just reach device via IP address?
Because a device cannot get an IP address assigned without a MAC address.
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