Tcp/Ip; Ip Addressing - Bay Networks NauticaRS Reference Manual

TCP/IP

IP Addressing

117237-E Rev.00
TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol) is the
name of a family of data communication protocols used to
connect computers and data communication equipment to
computer networks. TCP/IP was originally developed for the U.S.
Department of Defense, but its use spread rapidly to other
government facilities and to universities. It is now one of the most
widely used protocols in the world, and has become the de facto
standard networking protocol.
It is popular partly because it can be used on machines of all sizes
and it is able to connect equipment from different vendors. It is a
well defined set of communication protocols and several standard
application protocols that can be used over all normal LAN types,
including Ethernet and Token Ring, and passed transparently over
WANs.
Because it is used worldwide, TCP/IP networks need a unique
addressing structure to ensure that transmitted data reaches its
destination. The Internet Protocol (IP) uses a 32-bit address
structure, divided into two parts. The first part identifies the
network, and the second part identifies the host node (station) on
that network. To make IP addresses easier to read, remember and
use, they are usually written in dotted decimal notation. For
example, the binary address:
11000011.00100010.00001100.00000111
is written as 195.34.12.7 in dotted decimal.
There are five classes of IP address: each has a different way of
specifying the network and host sections of the address, to allow
for different numbers of hosts on a network. Each type of address
begins with a unique bit pattern, which is used by the TCP/IP
software to identify the address class. When the address class has
been determined, the software can correctly identify the host
section of the address.
Introduction to Protocols and Routing
1-11