Short for Internet Protocol, IP is an address of a computer or other network device on a network using IP or TCP/IP . For example, the number “166.70.10.23” is an example of such an address. These addresses are similar to addresses used on houses and help data reach its appropriate destination on a network.
There are five classes of available IP ranges: Class A, Class B, Class C, Class D and Class E, while only A, B and C are commonly used. Each class allows for a range of valid IP addresses. Below is a listing of these addresses.
Class | Address Range | Supports |
Class A | 1.0.0.1 to 126.255.255.254 | Supports 16 million hosts on each of 127 networks. |
Class B | 128.1.0.1 to 191.255.255.254 | Supports 65,000 hosts on each of 16,000 networks. |
Class C | 192.0.1.1 to 223.255.254.254 | Supports 254 hosts on each of 2 million networks. |
Class D | 224.0.0.0 to 239.255.255.255 | Reserved for multicast groups. |
Class E | 240.0.0.0 to 254.255.255.254 | Reserved. |
What is MAC address?
In computer networking, a Media Access Control address (MAC address), Ethernet Hardware Address (EHA), hardware address, adapter address or physical address is a quasi-unique identifier assigned to most network adapters or network interface cards (NICs) by the manufacturer for identification. If assigned by the manufacturer, a MAC address usually encodes the manufacturer’s registered identification number.
Three numbering spaces, managed by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), are in common use for formulating a MAC address