User's Manual

SPEEDLAN 9000 Installation and Operation User Guide
5-2 Basics of IP Addressing
Basics of IP Addressing
IP Addressing is important because it tells the network how to locate the computers or network
equipment connected to it. IP addresses are given so each computer or equipment on the network
contains a unique address. In addition, network addresses and node addresses, depending on the
Class (A, B, C, etc.), contain their own unique address as well. IP addressing provides the following
information:
• Provides communication between different platforms and diverse systems
• Provides universal data transfer over large geographic distances
• Has been "adopted" as a standard in the computer industry
What is an IP address?
An IP address contains 32 bits of information, which is divided into the following:
• Two sections: the network address and the node address (also known as the host address)
• To keep it simple, lets call it four bytes (octets)
Note: Each octet contains 8 bits, which are equivalent to 1 byte. Each octet is separated by a
period (.).
The following examples show the conversion of the same IP address into several different formats:
• Decimal (130.57.30.56)
• Hexadecimal (82.39.1E.38)
• Binary (10000010.00111001.00011110.00111000).
Internet Address Classes
Understanding this methodology is difficult, even for customers. Therefore, let's explain this in easier
terms. The first octet defines the "class" of the address, which is the only method to tell the size of the
network (how big) and where the internet address belongs.
There are three main classes:
• Class A: 35.0.0.0
• Class B: 128.5.0.0
• Class C: 192.33.33.0
-non-bolded text = Part of network address
-bolded text = Part of local address (node section)