3Com WX3000 Switch User Manual


 
1-1
z The term switch used throughout this document refers to a switching device in a generic sense or
the switching engine of the WX3000 series.
z The sample output information in this manual was created on the WX3024. The output information
on your device may vary.
1 IP Addressing Configuration
IP Addressing Overview
IP Address Classes
IP addressing uses a 32-bit address to identify each host on a network. An example is
01010000100000001000000010000000 in binary. To make IP addresses in 32-bit form easier to read,
they are written in dotted decimal notation, each being four octets in length, for example, 10.1.1.1 for the
address just mentioned.
Each IP address breaks down into two parts:
z Net ID: The first several bits of the IP address defining a network, also known as class bits.
z Host ID: Identifies a host on a network.
For administration sake, IP addresses are divided into five classes, as shown in the following figure (in
which the blue parts represent the address class).
Figure 1-1 IP address classes
0 Net-id Host-id
1 Net-id Host-id0
1
Net-id Host-id
01
1 Multicast address011
1 Reserved111
Class A
07152331
Class B
Class C
Class D
Class E
Table 1-1 describes the address ranges of these five classes. Currently, the first three classes of IP
addresses are used in quantity.