Why Are IP Addresses Divided Into Classes?

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Zachary Craft answered
IP addresses are divided into classes so that they can be assigned to a particular business, government or other entity based on size and need. There are five IP classes plus certain special addresses:

Special addresses:

Default Network - The IP address of 0.0.0.0 is used for the default network.

Loopback - The IP address 127.0.0.1 is used as the loopback address. This is used by the computer to send a message back to itself, usually for troubleshooting and network testing.

Broadcast - Messages intended for all computers on a network are sent as broadcasts. These messages use the IP address 255.255.255.255.

Classes:

Class A - These are reserved for very large networks, like a huge international company. Class A networks account for half of the total available IP addresses. The first set of numbers in the IP address for this class are 1-126.

Class B - These are reserved for medium sized networks, like a university campus. The first set of numbers in the IP address for this class range from 128 to 191.

Class C - These are typically used for small businesses. The first set of numbers in the IP address for this class range from 192 to 223.

Class D - These are used for multicasts. A multicast enables a message to be transmitted to a group of hosts, instead of having to address and send the message to each group member individually.

Class E - These are used for experimental purposes.

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