🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <812458964.25856@mduffy.demon.co.uk>, mike@mduffy.demon.co.uk (Mike Duffy) says:


>The only time I've seen MAC addresses being locally assigned (to
>over-ride the manufacturer's address) has been in IBM AS/400
>environments where the IBM admin specifies on the host which MAC
>addresses can access the AS/400.

>What are the benefits of this being done and why don't they just use
>the originally assigned addresses?

Here's a clue:

IP addresses by default have to be assigned by an administrator
who configures each individual machine.  There are now three 
progressively more powerful protocols (RARP, BOOTP, and DHCP) 
for superseding this and assigning them automatically, or at 
a bare minimum consolidating the assignment in a single location.
Sites that have a server for one of these protocols, tend to
use it to assign all addresses for all devices that *can* use
it.  (Some, such as Netware servers, have to have their own
hard-coded addresses.)

I cannot think of any possible advantage to *not* using the default
IPX addresses.  For that matter, if my limited understanding is
correct, on token-ring it isn't possible to not use the defaults.

<I'm not paid to have opinions.  I do that on my own time.>