1-1 
1  IP Addressing Configuration 
 
 
The term IP address used throughout this chapter refers to IPv4 address. For details about IPv6 
address, refer to IPv6 Management. 
 
When configuring IP addressing, go to these sections for information you are interested in: 
z  IP Addressing Overview 
z  Configuring IP Addresses 
z  Displaying IP Addressing Configuration 
z  VLAN Interface IP Address Configuration Examples 
IP Addressing Overview 
IP Address Classes 
On an IP network, a 32-bit address is used to identify a host. 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. 
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 
 
 
Table 1-1 describes the address ranges of these five classes.