Why is IP to MAC address translation needed?

Posted by b-gen-jack-o-neill on Super User See other posts from Super User or by b-gen-jack-o-neill
Published on 2010-05-24T15:52:49Z Indexed on 2010/05/24 17:32 UTC
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tcpip

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mac-address

On networks that use the TCP/IP protocol, why is the IP address translated into a MAC address?

I mean, when every device knows its IP, why further use the MAC address and not use the IP number as the address directly?

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