IP Routing Fundamentals

Chapter 2. Understanding Internetwork Addresses

A critical prerequisite to internetworking is having an efficient address architecture adhered to by all users of that internetwork. Address architectures can take many different forms. Network addresses are always numeric, but they can be expressed in base 2 (binary), base 10 (decimal), or even base 16 (hexadecimal) number systems. They can be proprietary or open for all to see and implement. Address architectures can be highly scalable or intentionally designed to serve just small communities of users.

This chapter examines the address architecture implemented by the Internet Protocol (IP). As IP has evolved substantially over the past 20 years, so has its address architecture. This chapter describes ...