Which addressing scheme is used to uniquely identify devices on a local area network?

The addressing scheme that is used to uniquely identify devices on a local area network is MAC addressing. Each network interface card (NIC) in a device is embedded with a unique Media Access Control (MAC) address, which is a hardware identification number. This 48-bit address ensures that each device on the network can be distinctly recognized by other devices and network routers during communication.

MAC addressing operates at the data link layer of the OSI model and plays a crucial role in facilitating communication over Ethernet and other similar network technologies. When devices transmit data on a local area network, they reference MAC addresses to ensure that the data packets reach the intended recipient, thus fulfilling the need for unique identification on the network.

Other addressing schemes, while relevant in their contexts, do not function primarily to uniquely identify devices at the local network level. For instance, IP addressing provides a way to identify devices on a network but can change depending on the network the device is connected to, and it operates at a higher layer (the network layer). URL addressing is used for locating resources on the internet, while hostname addressing facilitates easy reference to devices but still relies on an underlying addressing scheme (usually an IP address or a MAC address) for actual data transfer on a local network.