Which of the following is not the same as the other three?

Concept

Network communication uses identifiers at different layers. A data-link-layer identifier supports local frame delivery, whereas a network-layer identifier supports logical addressing and routing across networks.

The same data-link identifier is commonly called a MAC address, hardware address, or physical address.

Application

Compare the layer and function named by each term.

Contrast

• MAC address: the data-link-layer identifier associated with a network interface.

• Hardware address: a common name for that network interface data-link identifier.

• Physical address: another common networking name for that interface-level data-link identifier.

• IP address: a logical network-layer identifier used for routing packets between networks.

Cross-check

MAC address, hardware address, and physical address name the same interface-level identifier, while IP address belongs to a different layer and purpose.

Result

Therefore, IP address is not the same as the other three.