Final answer:
The hardware address of a network adapter is commonly known as a Media Access Control (MAC) address, which is 48 bits in length and represented by 12 hexadecimal digits.
Step-by-step explanation:
The common name for the hardware address of a network adapter is a Media Access Control (MAC) address. A MAC address is a unique identifier assigned to network interfaces for communications on the physical network segment. This hardware address is 48 bits long, or 12 hexadecimal digits, typically displayed in six groups of two hexadecimal digits separated by hyphens (-) or colons (:), for example, 01-23-45-67-89-AB or 01:23:45:67:89:AB.