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IP Addressing

An IP address is a 32-bit number that uniquely identifies a network interface. It is written in dotted-decimal format with four 8-bit fields separated by periods. The network part of the IP address specifies the network, while the host part uniquely identifies each host. There are three classes of networks - Class A uses 8 bits for the network and 24 for the host, allowing up to 16 million hosts per network; Class B uses 16 bits for the network and 16 for the host, allowing up to 65 thousand hosts; Class C uses 24 bits for the network and 8 for the host, allowing up to 254 hosts.

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104 views

IP Addressing

An IP address is a 32-bit number that uniquely identifies a network interface. It is written in dotted-decimal format with four 8-bit fields separated by periods. The network part of the IP address specifies the network, while the host part uniquely identifies each host. There are three classes of networks - Class A uses 8 bits for the network and 24 for the host, allowing up to 16 million hosts per network; Class B uses 16 bits for the network and 16 for the host, allowing up to 65 thousand hosts; Class C uses 24 bits for the network and 8 for the host, allowing up to 254 hosts.

Uploaded by

IjlalMujtaba
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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IP Addressing

An IP address is a 32-bit number that uniquely identifies a network interface on a machine. IP addresses
are typically written in decimal digits, formatted as four 8-bit fields separated by periods. Each 8-bit field
represents a byte of the IP address. This form of representing the bytes of an IP address is often referred
to as the dotted-decimal format.
The bytes of an IP address can be further classified into two parts: the network part and the host part. The
example below shows the components of the Class B network 192.168.1.100.
192.168.1.100
------- ----|
|___ (host part)
|
|____ (network part)

Network Part
This part specifies the unique number assigned to your particualr network. It is also the part that identifies
the class of network assigned. In the above example, the network part takes up two bytes of the IP
address, namely 192.168.
Host Part
This is the part of the IP address that you assign to each host, and uniquely identifies each host on your
network. Note that for each host on your network, the network part of the address will be the same, but
the host part must be different.

Network Classes
The first step in planning for IP addressing on your network is to determine which network class is
appropriate for your network. Currently, there are three classes of TCP/IP networks. Each class uses the
32-bit IP address space differently, providing more or fewer bits for the network part of the address. These
classes are Class A, B and Class C.
Class A Network Numbers
A Class A network number uses the first 8 bits of the IP address as its "network part". The remaining 24
bits comprise the host part of the IP address. (See below)
bits

0
7-8
15-16
23-24
31
+------------+------------+------------+------------+
| Network
|
Host
|
|
Part
|
Part
|
+------------+------------+------------+------------+
The values are assigned to the first byte of Class A network numbers fall within the range 0-127. Consider
for example the IP address 68.8.1.100. The value 68 in the first byte indicates that the host is on a Class
A network. The InterNIC assigns only the first byte of a Class A number. Use of the remaining three bytes
is left to the discretion of the owner of network number. Only 127 Class A networks can exist. Each one of
these numbers can accomodate up to 16,777,214 hosts.
Class B Network Numbers
It consists of the first 16 bits for the network number and 16 bits for host numbers. The first byte of a
Class B network number is in the range 128-191. E.g the IP address 132.168.1.100, the first two bytes,
132.168, are assigned by InterNIC, and comprise the network address. The last two bytes, 1.100, make
up the host part of the address, and is assigned at the discretion of the owner of the network number.
bits

0
7-8
15-16
23-24
31
+------------+------------+------------+------------+
|
Network
|
Host
|
|
Part
|
Part
|
+------------+------------+------------+------------+
Class B is typically assigned to organizations with many hosts on their network.
Class C Network Numbers
It uses 24 bits for the network part and 8 bits for the host part. Class C network numbers are appropriate
for networks with few hosts - the maximum being 254. A Class C network number occupies the first three
bytes of an IP address. Only the fourth byte is assigned at the discretion of the network number owner.
bits

0
7-8
15-16
23-24
31
+------------+------------+------------+------------+
|
Network
|
Host
|
|
Part
|
Part
|
+------------+------------+------------+------------+
The first bytes of a class C network number cover the range 192-223. The second and third each cover
the range 1-255. A typical Class C address might be 192.98.1.100. The first three bytes, 192.98.1, form
the network number. The final byte in this example, 100, is the host number.

The number of hosts that a class A network can have = 224 = 16,777,214

Number of hosts that a class B network can have= 2 16= 65,534.

Number of hosts a class C network can have= 28= 254.

Class A networks use a default subnet mask of 255.0.0.0 and have 0-127 as
their first octet. The address 10.52.36.11 is a class A address. Its first octet is 10,
which is between 1 and 126, inclusive.
Class B networks use a default subnet mask of 255.255.0.0 and have 128191 as their first octet. The address 172.16.52.63 is a class B address. Its first octet
is 172, which is between 128 and 191, inclusive.
Class C networks use a default subnet mask of 255.255.255.0 and have
192-223 as their first octet. The address 192.168.123.132 is a class C address. Its
first octet is 192, which is between 192 and 223, inclusive.

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