IP Addresses (IPv4)Ĭlearly, a different scheme of addressing is needed to enable computers to communicate with each other via Ethernet. Second, storing the address of every other computer on the planet on each machine would require a large amount of memory, and is not a good strategy due to the constant addition of new devices. First, with such a large shared connection packet collisions would occur frequently, causing communication to be unreliable. However, this is impractical for several reasons. If every computer in the world were connected to one large wire and knew every other computer's MAC address, then no further addressing schemes would be required. If multiple NICs are installed in one computer, they each have their own MAC addresses. Each network interface controller (NIC) in a computer has a unique medium access control (MAC) address. Each interface is continually listening for packets sent to its unique address.įigure 1. When Ethernet data is sent between two computers, it is sent in small pieces called "packets", and those packets contain the MAC address of the receiving interface. The MAC address or addresses for a specific Ethernet adapter are commonly printed on a label on the device itself, and are also accessible via operating system networking settings. MAC addresses consist of 48 bits, and are commonly expressed in groups of 2 hexadecimal digits (e.g. Just like a home or business address must be specified in order to send a piece of postal mail, every port on every Ethernet adapter is assigned a unique address called a Medium Access Control (MAC) address by the manufacturer. If you are already familiar with these concepts or are not concerned about the "why" behind the recommendations in this paper, then you can skip to the Guidelines for Configuring Multi-NIC Systems section. This section explains how individual NICs are addressed, how packets are routed on Ethernet networks, and what a typical Ethernet packet transfer looks like. Before explaining best practices for configuring controllers with multiple NICs, it is necessary to understand some basic concepts related to Ethernet networking.
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March 2023
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