1-11 IP Addressing ConfigurationWhen assigning IP addresses to interfaces on your device, go to these sections for information you areinterested in:z IP Addressing Overviewz Configuring IP Addressesz Displaying and Maintaining IP AddressingIP Addressing OverviewThis section covers these topics:z IP Address Classesz Special IP AddressesIP Address ClassesOn an IP network, a 32-bit address is used to identify a host. An example is01010000100000001000000010000000 in binary. To make IP addresses in 32-bit form easier to read,they are written in dotted decimal notation, each being four octets in length, for example, 10.1.1.1 forthe address just mentioned.Each IP address breaks down into two parts:z Net ID: The first several bits of the IP address defining a network, also known as class bits.z Host-id: Identifies a host on a network.IP addresses are divided into five classes, as shown in the following figure (in which the blue partsrepresent the address class).Figure 1-1 IP address classesTable 1-1 describes the address ranges of these five classes.
