The TCP/IP Guide  9  TCP/IP Lower-Layer (Interface, Internet and Transport) Protocols (OSI Layers 2, 3 and 4)       9  TCP/IP Internet Layer (OSI Network Layer) Protocols            9  Internet Protocol (IP/IPv4, IPng/IPv6) and IP-Related Protocols (IP NAT, IPSec, Mobile IP)                 9  Internet Protocol Version 4 (IP, IPv4)                      9  IP Addressing                           9  IP "Classful" (Conventional) Addressing

IP "Classful" Addressing Overview and Address Classes 1 2 3 IP Address Class A, B and C Network and Host Capacities

The “classful” IP addressing scheme divides the total IP address space into five classes, A through E. One of the benefits of the relatively simple “classful” scheme is that information about the classes is encoded directly into the IP address. This means we can determine in advance which address ranges belong to each class. It also means the opposite is possible: we can identify which class is associated with any address by examining just a few bits of the address.

This latter benefit was one of the main motivators for the initial creation of the “classful” system, as we saw in the previous topic.

When TCP/IP was first created computer technology was still in its infancy, compared to its current state. Routers needed to be able to quickly make decisions about how to move IP datagrams around. The IP address space was split into classes in a way that looking at only the first few bits of any IP address would tell the router where to “draw the line” between the network ID and host ID, and thus what to do with the datagram.

The number of bits the router needs to look at may be as few as one or as many as four, depending on what it finds when it starts looking. The algorithm used corresponds to the system used to divide the address space; it involves four very basic steps (see Figure 61):

1. If the first bit is a “0”, it's a class A address and we're done. (Half the address space has a “0” for the first bit, so this is why class A takes up half the address space.) If it's a “1”, continue to step two.
   
   
2. If the second bit is a “0”, it's a class B address and we're done. (Half of the remaining non-class-A addresses, or one quarter of the total.) If it's a “1”, continue to step three.
   
   
3. If the third bit is a “0”, it's a class C address and we're done. (Half again of what's left, or one eighth of the total.) If it's a “1”, continue to step four.
   
   
4. If the fourth bit is a “0”, it's a class D address. (Half the remainder, or one sixteenth of the address space.) If it's a “1”, it's a class E address. (The other half, one sixteenth.)

And that's pretty much it.

IP "Classful" Addressing Overview and Address Classes 1 2 3 IP Address Class A, B and C Network and Host Capacities