MAC Full Form- What is the Full Form of MAC?

MAC full form is Media Access Control Address. It is a hardware identification number that recognizes each device connected to a network. The MAC address is embedded into the Network Interface Cards (NIC) in your computer such as an ‘Ethernet card’ or Wi-Fi card at the time of manufacturing by the vendor, so it cannot be altered. Therefore, it is a hardware number of a computer which is also known as a physical address or a hardware address of a network device.

What is MAC Full Form?

MAC full form is Media Access Control Address. The Network Interface Card (NIC) is a computer circuit card that allows your computer to connect to a network. NIC converts the data into an electrical signal that can be transferred over the network. So, in a network along with an IP address, there also lies a hardware address. The IP addresses are related to TCP/IP whereas MAC addresses are related with the hardware of network adapters. Therefore, MAC is a computer's unique hardware number i.e. a unique identifier for an Ethernet or network adapter over a network.

MAC full form in computer terminology is Media Access Control Address. This address is used in identifying and knowing each device that is connected to a network. The MAC address is known as the ‘hardware id number’. In particular, each computer’s NIC (network interface card) including various applications such as Bluetooth, Wi-Fi card or Ethernet card has an unchanged MAC address inserted by the manufacturer at the time of production. Few of the well-recognized NIC manufacturing companies include Nortel, Dell, Nortel and Cisco. By substituting or changing the NIC cards, one might alter the given default address of the system.

Highlights on MAC Format

There are plenty of networkable devices and each device is required to have a unique MAC address, so, there must be many prevailing Media Access Control Addresses (MAC full form). Accordingly, MAC addresses consist of six two-digit hexadecimal numbers separated by colons. 

For example, if an Ethernet card can have a MAC address of 0d:00:b1:8e:83:C1. Therefore, it is a 12 digit hexadecimal number which is a 6-byte binary number and is represented by Colon-Hexadecimal notation.

First 6 digits of the MAC address provides information about the manufacturer, which is called OUI (Organizational Unique Identifier). The next or last 6 digits identify the Network Interface Controller which is assigned by the manufacturer. The network automatically recognizes and verifies this number and we don't need to remember the address. IEEE Registration Authority Committee allocates the MAC prefixes to its registered vendors.

As far as the history of MAC addresses is concerned, the Xerox PARC researchers are assumed to have accepted the presence of MAC addresses and the application of MAC has started. Moreover, several other concepts such as a physical address, hardware address and ‘ethernet hardware’ address were used in place of MAC address.

General Features of MAC

Media Access Control Address (which is the MAC Full Form) is a hardware identification number that is used in identifying and verifying all the devices that are connected to a network. Some of the basic key features of MAC are listed below:

• The MAC address (MAC) is constituted into the ‘Network Interface Cards’ (NIC) to your computers in the form of an ethernet card or wireless card. This is done at the time of manufacturing so it cannot be transformed. Therefore, a MAC address is also known as a physical or a hardware address of a network device.
• NIC, full form of which is Network Interface Cards is used to allow the users to get connected to a network. It is also known as a computer circuit card as it can turn any information into an electrical signal which gets transmitted through the medium of the internet.
• MAC Address is a 48-bit value and the format consists of 12 hexadecimal digits. The first six digits of the MAC address is referred to as Organizational Unique Identifier (OUI) which focuses on providing the data of the manufacturer. Whereas the last six digits are used in identifying a network interface control system provided by the manufacturer.
• The twelve-digit number is mechanically recognised by the network and thus we do not have to remember the MAC address while identifying the specific control system.
• The MAC prefixes are allotted to their licensed vendors by the IEEE Registration Authority Committee.

Different Types of MAC Addresses

Media Access Control Addresses (MAC) are of three types. The three types of MAC Addresses are listed below:

1. Unicast MAC Address: This type of MAC address is used for a particular Network Interface Cards (NIC) on the network. The address frame is only delivered to a specific NIC assigned interface and is transmitted to a single destination device.
2. Multicast MAC Address: Multicast MAC Address is used for enabling the source device to transmit data frames to multiple devices. The format of this particular MAC Address always begins with the prefix 01-00-5E.
3. Broadcast MAC address: This address is used to characterize all the devices within a frame of the network and is used as a destination MAC address by a source device for transmitting data to all connected devices.

Advantages of Media Access Control Address

1. Media Access Control Address (MAC) provides a safe, secured and protected  way for detecting senders or receivers in the network.
2. It also prevents your device from unwanted or foreign network access.
3. MAC address consists of a unique 12 digit number and therefore it can be used in tracking your device. This number is not similar for all the devices.
4. The MAC addresses are unique for all users on the same subset of the network.
5. Network problems related to IP addresses and other physical addresses can be accessed easily in a simple manner due to the efficiency of the MAC addresses.