Names, Addresses and Name Resolution

The simple reason for the use of names is that at the lowest level the method by which computers communicate is pretty tedious for humans to remember. What is this method? On almost all networked computer systems the network card (the piece of equipment that prepares the data and messages for transmission across the cables) is identified by a unique number. This means that each and every card in the world has a distinct identification number. This number does not change and is assigned jointly by the card manufacturer and a centralised “steering” committee. (This is the theory, in practice some problems are caused by the fact that not all cards have unique addresses).