I have an idea regarding a standard Ethernet device.

I would like to have it know the MAC address of several other devices so that it can record traffic from each device or possibly process in some way the data from each device.

For example, if my device knew the MAC addresses of four other devices I could add something to a log, e.g., timestamp and number of bytes.

I do not have an application yet. Would be interested in knowing how to do this and if it has already been done.

Regards!

There are some programs available with similar functionality, such as iptraf. This can certainly show you other machines' MAC addresses. Can't remember exactly what it logs (at work at the mo', and don't have my Eee with me). There is also Wireshark of course, and if you did want to build your own you could use the source code of these as a starting point.

You may hit a snag, though, depending on how your machines are connected. If it's through a passive hub, each machine will be able to see the traffic between all the others. If it's a switch, on the other hand (and most "hubs" these days are switches), the machine will only be able to see its own and broadcast frames.