IP Address And Classes

For Our First Lesson in KISMEC  We introduced to IP. 

What is IP address. ? 

An Internet Protocol address (IP address) is a numerical label assigned to each device (e.g., computer, printer) participating in a computer network that uses the Internet Protocol for communication. An IP address serves two principal functions: host or network interface identification and location addressing. Its role has been characterized as follows: "A name indicates what we seek. An address indicates where it is. A route indicates how to get there.

The designers of the Internet Protocol defined an IP address as a 32-bit number and this system, known as Internet Protocol Version 4 (IPv4), is still in use today. However, due to the enormous growth of theInternet and the predicted depletion of available addresses, a new version of IP (IPv6), using 128 bits for the address, was developed in 1995.^[3] IPv6 was standardized as RFC 2460 in 1998, and itsdeployment has been ongoing since the mid-2000s.

IP addresses are binary numbers, but they are usually stored in text files and displayed in human-readable notations, such as 172.16.254.1 (for IPv4), and 2001:db8:0:1234:0:567:8:1 (for IPv6).

The Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) manages the IP address space allocations globally and delegates five regional Internet registries (RIRs) to allocate IP address blocks to local Internet registries(Internet service providers) and other entities.

IP address divide into how many class ? 

Subnetting is the process of dividing a Class A, B or C network into subnets, as we've seen in the preceding topics. In order to better understand how this “division of the whole” is accomplished, it's worth starting with a look at how the “whole” class A, B and C networks are represented in a subnetted environment. This is also of value because there are situations where you may need to define an unsubnetted network using subnetting notation.

This might seem like a strange concept—if you aren't going to bother creating subnets, why do you need to consider how the old-fashioned classes are used under subnetting? The answer is that after subnetting became popular, most operating systems and networking hardware and software were designed under the assumption that subnetting would be used. Even if you decide not to subnet, you may need to express your unsubnetted network using a subnet mask.
In essence, a non-subnetted class A, B or C network can be considered the “default case” of the more general, custom-subnetted network. Specifically, it is the case where we choose to divide the host ID so that zero bits are used for the subnet ID and all the bits are used for the host ID. I realize that this seems like a bit of a semantic game. However, this default case is the basis for the more practical subnetting.

Just as is always the case, the subnet mask for a default, unsubnetted class A, B or C network has ones for each bit that is used for network ID or subnet ID, and zeroes for the host ID bits. Of course, we just said we aren't subnetting, so there are no subnet ID bits! Thus, the subnet mask for this default case has 1s for the network ID portion and 0s for the host ID portion. This is called the default subnet mask for each of the IP address classes.

Since classes A, B and C divide the network ID from the host ID on octet boundaries, the subnet mask will always have all ones or all zeroes in an octet. Therefore, the default subnet masks will always have 255s or 0s when expressed in decimal notation. 

IP Address Class	Total # Of Bits For Network ID / Host ID	Default Subnet Mask
		First Octet	Second Octet	Third Octet	Fourth Octet
Class A	8 / 24	11111111 (255)	00000000 (0)	00000000 (0)	00000000 (0)
Class B	16 / 16	11111111 (255)	11111111 (255)	00000000 (0)	00000000 (0)
Class C	24 / 8	11111111 (255)	11111111 (255)	11111111 (255)	00000000 (0)

Figure 68: Default Subnet Masks for Class A, Class B and Class C Networks

So, the three default subnet masks are 255.0.0.0 for Class A, 255.255.0.0 for class B, and 255.255.255.0 for Class C. Note that while all default subnet masks use only “255” and “0”, not all subnet masks with “255” and “0” are defaults. There are a small number of custom subnets that divide on octet boundaries as well. These are:

• 255.255.0.0:,This is the default mask for Class B, but can also be the custom subnet mask for dividing a Class A network using 8 bits for the subnet ID (leaving 16 bits for the host ID).
  
• 255.255.255.0: This is the default subnet mask for Class C, but can be a custom Class A with 16 bits for the subnet ID or a Class B with 8 bits for the subnet ID.

To Be Continue....................