Network interfaces

Network interfaces or network adapters are expansion boards installed on your computer motherboard. There are also non standard interface types intended for notebooks and handhelds. In some cases network interfaces are integrated into motherboard.

Ethernet uses MAC-addresses to determine the destination of network packets. MAC-addresses resemble unique serial numbers given to each Ethernet network adapter upon manufacturing. This unique address is used to identify network interface on local network, thou it can be changed using software. When operating a network adapter monitors all network traffic passing thru and looks for its MAC-address in each packet. If it is found the adapter receives the packet. There are also special means of broadcasting packets to all adapters on the network. MAC-address is six bytes long and is usually specified as a hexadecimal value, e.g.:

                                                        11 - 35 - 56 - F8 - A1 - C4

The hyphen signs (dashes) are not present in MAC-address; they are intended for increasing readability of MAC-address only. Each manufacturer assigns addresses from its own range of addresses. First three bytes of MAC-address define the network adapter manufacturer.

To view your local system network interfaces left-click the ‘Network interfaces’ to expand the tree.