Government College of Technology,

Allama Iqbal Town, Lahore

Topic:
IP Address and MAC Address
Question no 1: What is an IP Address?

Answer: IP Address:
An IP (Internet Protocol) address is a numerical label assigned to the devices
connected to a computer network that uses the IP for communication.
IP address act as an identifier for a specific machine on a particular network. It also helps
you to develop a virtual connection between a destination and a source. The IP address is
also called IP number or internet address. It helps you to specify the technical format of the
addressing and packets scheme. Most networks combine TCP with IP.
An IP address consists of four numbers, each number contains one to three digits, with a
single dot (.) separates each number or set of digits.

IP Address is divided into two parts:

1. Prefix: The prefix part of IP address identifies the physical network to which the
computer is attached. Prefix is also known as a network address.
2. Suffix: The suffix part identifies the individual computer on the network. The suffix is
also called the host address.

Made By: Saad Ali Butt CIT-223 Roll No: 2021-322

 Government College of Technology,
Allama Iqbal Town, Lahore

IP Classes:

Address Example Leading Max No of

Class Subnet Mask Application
Range IP Bits Networks
Used for large
Class A 1 to 126 255.0.0.0 1.1.1.1 8 128
number of hosts.
Used for medium
Class B 128 to 191 255.255.0.0 128.1.1.1 16 16384
size network.
Used for local area
Class C 192 to 223 255.255.255.0 192.0.1.1 24 2097157
network.
Reserve for multi-
Class D 224 to 239 N/A 224.0.0.0 N/A N/A
tasking.
This class is
reserved for
Class E 240 to 254 N/A 240.0.0.0 N/A N/A research and
Development
Purposes.

MAC Address:
A MAC (Media Access Control) address, sometimes referred to as a hardware or physical
address, is a unique, 12-character alphanumeric attribute that is used to identify individual electronic
devices on a network. An example of a MAC address is: 00-B0-D0-63-C2-26.
MAC Addresses are unique 48-bits hardware number of a computer, which is embedded into a
network card (known as a Network Interface Card) during the time of manufacturing. MAC Address is
also known as the Physical Address of a network device. In IEEE 802 standard, Data Link Layer is
divided into two sublayers:
1. Logical Link Control (LLC) Sublayer
2. Media Access Control (MAC) Sublayer
MAC address is used by the Media Access Control (MAC) sublayer of the Data-Link Layer. MAC Address
is worldwide unique since millions of network devices exist and we need to uniquely identify each.

Made By: Saad Ali Butt CIT-223 Roll No: 2021-322

 Government College of Technology,
Allama Iqbal Town, Lahore

MAC Address on Windows Operating System can be checked as follow:

1. Click Start > Control Panel > Network and Internet > Network and Sharing Center.
2. Click the network you would like to view the MAC address for.
3. Click Details.
4. The MAC address is listed under the Physical Address heading.

Another Method to check the MAC Address on Windows OS is given below:

1. Click on the Start menu in the bottom-left corner of your computer. Select Run or type cmd into
the search bar at the bottom of the Start menu to bring up the command prompt.
2. Type ipconfig /all (note the space between the g and /).
3. The MAC address is listed as series of 12 digits, listed as the Physical Address
(00:1A:C2:7B:00:47, for example). Each network adapter (wireless, Ethernet, etc.) has a
separate MAC address.

Made By: Saad Ali Butt CIT-223 Roll No: 2021-322