Network Classes

The first step in planning for IP addressing on your network is to determine which network class is appropriate for your network. After you have done this, you can take the crucial second step: obtain the network number from the InterNIC addressing authority.

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, class B, and class C.

Class A Network Numbers

A class A network number uses the first eight bits of the IP address as its "network part." The remaining 24 bits comprise the host part of the IP address, as illustrated in Figure 3-2 below.

Figure 3-2 Byte Assignment in a Class A Address

The values assigned to the first byte of class A network numbers fall within the range 0-127. Consider the IP address 75.4.10.4. The value 75 in the first byte indicates that the host is on a class A network. The remaining bytes, 4.10.4, establish the host address. 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 the network number. Only 127 class A networks can exist. Each one of these numbers can accommodate up to 16,777,214 hosts.

Class B Network Numbers

A class B network number uses 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. In the number 129.144.50.56, the first two bytes, 129.144, are assigned by the InterNIC, and comprise the network address. The last two bytes, 50.56, make up the host address, and are assigned at the discretion of the owner of the network number. Figure 3-3 graphically illustrates a class B address.

Figure 3-3 Byte Assignment in a Class B Address

Class B is typically assigned to organizations with many hosts on their networks.

Class C Network Numbers

Class C network numbers use 24 bits for the network number and 8 bits for host numbers. 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 owners. Figure 3-4 graphically represents the bytes in a class C address.

Figure 3-4 Byte Assignment in a Class C Address

The first byte of a class C network number covers the range 192-223. The second and third each cover the range 1- 255. A typical class C address might be 192.5.2.5. The first three bytes, 192.5.2, form the network number. The final byte in this example, 5, is the host number.

Administering Network Numbers

If your organization has been assigned more than one network number, or uses subnets, appoint a centralized authority within your organization to assign network numbers. That authority should maintain control of a pool of assigned network numbers, assigning network, subnet, and host numbers as required. To prevent problems, make sure that duplicate or random network numbers do not exist in your organization.

Designing Your IP Addressing Scheme

After you have received your network number, you can then plan how you will assign the host parts of the IP address.

Table 3-1 shows the division of the IP address space into network and host address spaces. For each class, "range" specifies the range of decimal values for the first byte of the network number. "Network address" indicates the number of bytes of the IP address that are dedicated to the network part of the address, with each byte represented by xxx. "Host address" indicates the number of bytes dedicated to the host part of the address. For example, in a class A network address, the first byte is dedicated to the network, and the last three are dedicated to the host. The opposite is true for a class C network.

Table 3-1 Division of IP Address Space

Class	Range	Network Address	Host Address
A	0-127	xxx	xxx.xxx.xxx
B	128-191	xxx.xxx	xxx.xxx
C	192-223	xxx.xxx.xxx	xxx

The numbers in the first byte of the IP address define whether the network is class A, B, or C and are always assigned by the InterNIC. The remaining three bytes have a range from 0-255. The numbers 0 and 255 are reserved; you can assign the numbers 1-254 to each byte depending on the network number assigned to you.

Table 3-2 shows which bytes of the IP address are assigned to you and the range of numbers within each byte that are available for you to assign to your hosts.

Table 3-2 Range of Available Numbers

Network Class	Byte 1 Range	Byte 2 Range	Byte 3 Range	Byte 4 Range
A	0-127	1-254	1-254	1-254
B	128-191	Preassigned by Internet	1-254	1-254
C	192-223	Preassigned by Internet	Preassigned by Internet	1-254