1. Introduction
Humans use their names to identify and interact with one another. In the computing world, devices use IP addresses to identify and transfer data among themselves. As a result, each device connected to the network must have a unique IP address to communicate with others.
In this tutorial, we’ll delve deeper into the different types of IP addresses and how they’re used with IP addresses that end in zero.
Without further ado, let’s get into the nitty-gritty of it.
2. What Is an IP Address?
The Internet Protocol (IP) is a set of guidelines that dictate how devices on a network communicate with each other. It is an essential element of the internet, enabling devices to connect and transfer data to one another. An IP address is a numerical identifier assigned to each device connected to a computer network using the Internet Protocol.
It serves as a unique identifier for each device on the network, allowing it to be identified and located to transmit data. The numerical label of an IP address is typically written in the format of four octets with 8bits each. For example, 10.14.19.12, 192.168.56.1, 115.114.12.19.
There are two types of IP Addressing Schema.
3. Classful IP Addressing
Classful IP addressing was a method used to assign IP addresses to devices on a network in the early days of the internet. It divided the available address space into five classes: A, B, C, D, and E. Each class had a specific range of values for the first few bits of the IP address, with the remaining bits identifying the specific device on the network.
- Class A addresses ranged from 0.0.0.0 to 126.0.0.0, and they were intended for large networks with many hosts.
- Class B addresses ranged from 128.0.0.0 to 191.0.0.0, and they were intended for medium-sized networks.
- Class C addresses ranged from 192.0.0.0 to 223.0.0.0, and they were intended for small networks with a few hosts.
- Class D addresses ranged from 224.0.0.0 to 239.0.0.0, and they were reserved for multicast addresses.
- Class E addresses ranged from 240.0.0.0 to 255.0.0.0, and they were reserved for experimental use.
Classful IP addressing has been deprecated in favour of classless IP addressing, allowing more efficient use of the available address space.
3.1. Special IP Address
One particular case of a Class C IP address is an IP address ending with zero. This type of IP address is often used as a default gateway or a network address. A default gateway is a device on a computer network that serves as an entry point to another network. When a device on a network wants to communicate with a device on a different network, it sends the request to the default gateway, which then forwards it to the appropriate destination. The default gateway is usually assigned an IP address ending with zero, such as 192.168.1.0 or 10.0.0.0.
A network address is a special IP address used to identify a network as a whole rather than a specific device on the network. It is usually assigned an IP address ending with zero, such as 192.168.1.0 or 10.0.0.0.
In addition to serving as a default gateway or a network address, an IP address ending with zero can also be used for other purposes. For example, it can be used as a broadcast address, which allows a device to send a message to all devices on a network. It can also be used as a network mask, which is a string of bits used to identify the network portion of an IP address.
However, it is essential to note that an IP address ending with zero cannot be assigned to a specific device on a network. This is because an IP address ending with zero is reserved for special purposes, such as a default gateway or a network address. The inception of CIDR helped to resolve this reserved nature of the IP Address.
4. Classless IP Addressing
Classless Inter-Domain Routing (CIDR) is a method of assigning IP addresses that allows for more efficient use of the available address space compared to the older classful IP addressing scheme. In classless IP addressing, the address space is not divided into fixed classes like it is in classful IP addressing.
Instead, a prefix is used to specify the number of bits that are used for the network portion of the address, with the remaining bits identifying the host on the network. This allows for a more flexible allocation of addresses. The network portion can be of any size rather than being limited to one of the predefined classes in classful IP addressing.
For example, a prefix of /24 would indicate that the first 24 bits of the address are used for the network portion, and the remaining 8 bits are used for the host portion. Public IPv4 addresses that end in .0, except for /32 and /31 networks, are likely to be uncommon as .0 only does not always refer to a network ID for networks where n is less than 24.
A /32 network is a host route network where the address provides the host with an address to allow the protocol drivers to function, but there is no masking. The device at the other end of the connection acts as a router by default.
5. Conclusion
To summarize, we’ve explored the nuts and bolts of IP Addressing and its types and also seen the usage of IPAddress ending with zero.