Question : What is the difference between an IP address and a MAC address?

Hi Everyone:

      From a previous open post, there was references made by an expert toward MAC addresses for NIC Card.  It is my understanding it is a hexadecimal address given to the NIC Card which is given as Physical Address within the ipconfig information.  However, I am still unclear on how it differs from an IP address.  Is an IP address like a residential address given to a computer on a network and the MAC address being an address given to the NIC card itself?  

      Any tips for distinguishing a MAC address from an IP address will be appreciated.

      Thank you

      George

Answer : What is the difference between an IP address and a MAC address?

>Is an IP address like a residential address given to a computer on a network and the MAC address being an address given to the NIC card itself?
Basically, yes.

To add to redsea's post:

Another way of looking at it is this:  
1) The MAC address is permanently programmed into the NIC's ROM & is supposed to be a unique identifier (think "fingerprint")  for the actual NIC card itself - the idea is that every single NIC on the planet is supposed to have a unique MAC address, & MAC addresses are dealt with at OSI Layer 2.
2) IP addresses are not permanent, but are set via software, are dealt with at OSI Layer 3, & as stated above they specify a location that the server, router, PC, etc can be reached at; much like a mailing address for a building or a telephone number. And, since IP addresses are Layer 3 addresses, they potentially can be used as a globally-accessible location for the network device; whereas MAC addresses are (usually) only significant locally.

HTH