A device with only IP address?

Hi,
Is there any device with only IP address and no MAC address and yet
conneted in the network?
(AFAIK vice versa is not at all possible)

If so, how is it possible for the device to communicate with the
network?
I mean is MAC address essential or not?


regards
SaranJothy

I think there is no such a device, with IP but without an MAC address. Media
Access Control is essential to propagate data in the network. It is
allocated in the data-link layer of the OSI networking model which passes a
frame to the Network Layer which is responsible for logical addressing (e.g.
IP).

There is a device which has no IP and no MAC ;-) hub and repeater for
example

Regards,
Pawel

"SaranJothy" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed) ups.com...
Hi,
Is there any device with only IP address and no MAC address and yet
conneted in the network?
(AFAIK vice versa is not at all possible)

If so, how is it possible for the device to communicate with the
network?
I mean is MAC address essential or not?


regards
SaranJothy

Hello,

SaranJothy a écrit :
> Is there any device with only IP address and no MAC address and yet
> conneted in the network?

Sure. Any host connected to the network via a point to point link does
not need a MAC address.

> If so, how is it possible for the device to communicate with the
> network?

A point to point link has only two ends, with one host at each end. When
one hosts wants to communicate with the other host or what's behind it,
it just sends the packets on the link and the other host will receive it.

> I mean is MAC address essential or not?

They are essential only on multiplexed access (the MA in MAC) link
layers such as ethernet.

[Supersedes, please ignore my previous reply]

Hello,

SaranJothy a écrit :
> Is there any device with only IP address and no MAC address and yet
> conneted in the network?

Sure. Any host connected to the network via a point to point link does
not need a MAC address.

> If so, how is it possible for the device to communicate with the
> network?

A point to point link has only two ends, with one host at each end. When
one hosts wants to communicate with the other host or what's behind it,
it just sends the packets on the link and the other host will receive it.

> I mean is MAC address essential or not?

They are essential only on multiplexed access link layers such as ethernet.

SaranJothy wrote:

> Hi,
> Is there any device with only IP address and no MAC address and yet
> conneted in the network?
> (AFAIK vice versa is not at all possible)

The MAC address is specific to Ethernet. An Ethernet device must have
an unique MAC address. Every other kind of device on the planet has
no MAC address.

The IP address is required for the IP protocol. Nobody stops you
from using, for instance, raw Ethernet packets with people's names
in them for routing.

The only example where you have IP and MAC addresses is specifically
when using the IP protocol over Ethernet. In all other cases the
IP address or the MAC address or both are missing.

Kind regards,

Iwo

On 15 Nov 2006, in the Usenet newsgroup comp.os.linux.networking, in article
<(E-Mail Removed). com>, SaranJothy wrote:

>Is there any device with only IP address and no MAC address and yet
>conneted in the network?

Certainly. It would be a device on a media that doesn't use MAC addressing
such as PLIP, a serial port connection using PPP or SLIP, and so on.

If you are limiting the question to Ethernet _alone_ then the answer would
be no, because Ethernet carries datagrams using MAC addresses only. See
RFC0894 and RFC1042.

>(AFAIK vice versa is not at all possible)

ftp://ftp.iana.org/assignments/ethernet-numbers

IPv4 is one of 184 different network protocols that can be carried on an
Ethernet network.

>If so, how is it possible for the device to communicate with the network?
>I mean is MAC address essential or not?

On Ethernet (and those media that use a MAC address scheme), the MAC
address is required. On media that doesn't use MAC addresses, such as
ppp over a telephone line, there is no MAC, so none would be required.

Old guy

Iwo Mergler wrote:
> SaranJothy wrote:
>
>> Hi,
>> Is there any device with only IP address and no MAC address and yet
>> conneted in the network?
>> (AFAIK vice versa is not at all possible)
>
> The MAC address is specific to Ethernet. An Ethernet device must have
> an unique MAC address. Every other kind of device on the planet has
> no MAC address.
>
Not strictly true, other stuff also uses MAC addresses. Firewire and
802.11 wifi spring to mind as two obvious candidates. Even Bluetooth
sticks its nose in. However, they're all supposed to be unique, although
the uniqueness only really needs extend to the local network.

--
Dave
mail da (E-Mail Removed) (without the space)
http://www.llondel.org
So many gadgets, so little time

Dave {Reply Address In.sig} wrote:

> Iwo Mergler wrote:
>> SaranJothy wrote:
>>
>>> Hi,
>>> Is there any device with only IP address and no MAC address and yet
>>> conneted in the network?
>>> (AFAIK vice versa is not at all possible)
>>
>> The MAC address is specific to Ethernet. An Ethernet device must have
>> an unique MAC address. Every other kind of device on the planet has
>> no MAC address.
>>
> Not strictly true, other stuff also uses MAC addresses. Firewire and
> 802.11 wifi spring to mind as two obvious candidates. Even Bluetooth
> sticks its nose in. However, they're all supposed to be unique, although
> the uniqueness only really needs extend to the local network.
>
You're right of course. It would have destroyed the flow, mentioning
all the exceptions. ;-)

Iwo