address range of each IPv4 network

Within the address range of each IPv4 network, we have three types of addresses:

Network address - The address by which we refer to the network

Broadcast address - A special address used to send data to all hosts in the network

Host addresses - The addresses assigned to the end devices in the network

Network Address

The network address is a standard way to refer to a network. For example, we could refer to the network shown in the figure as "the 10.0.0.0 network." This is a much more convenient and descriptive way to refer to the network than using a term like "the first network." All hosts in the 10.0.0.0 network will have the same network bits.

Within the IPv4 address range of a network, the lowest address is reserved for the network address. This address has a 0 for each host bit in the host portion of the address.

Roll over the NETWORK ADDRESS tab in the figure.

Broadcast Address

The IPv4 broadcast address is a special address for each network that allows communication to all the hosts in that network. To send data to all hosts in a network, a host can send a single packet that is addressed to the broadcast address of the network.

The broadcast address uses the highest address in the network range. This is the address in which the bits in the host portion are all 1s. For the network 10.0.0.0 with 24 network bits, the broadcast address would be 10.0.0.255. This address is also referred to as the directed broadcast.

Roll over the BROADCAST ADDRESS tab in the figure.

Host Addresses

As described previously, every end device requires a unique address to deliver a packet to that host. In IPv4 addresses, we assign the values between the network address and the broadcast address to the devices in that network.