Network Portion vs Host Portion
Learn how an address splits into a network and a host part.
An Address Has Two Parts
Every IPv4 address is logically split into a network portion and a host portion. The network portion identifies which network a device belongs to; the host portion identifies the specific device on that network.
This is like a postal address: the city and street name locate the neighborhood, while the house number picks one home within it.
The Subnet Mask Marks the Split
How do we know where the network part ends and the host part begins? A subnet mask tells us. The mask is also 32 bits: the bits set to 1 mark the network portion and the bits set to 0 mark the host portion.
A common mask is 255.255.255.0, where the first three octets (all 1s) are network and the last octet (all 0s) is host.
IP: 192.168.1.10
Mask: 255.255.255.0
Net: 192.168.1 Host: .10All lessons in this course
- Reading a Dotted-Decimal Address
- Network Portion vs Host Portion
- Address Classes and Their Ranges
- Public, Private, and Loopback Addresses