RFC 943 (rfc943) - Page 2 of 50
Assigned numbers
Alternative Format: Original Text Document
Assigned Numbers RFC 943
Network Numbers
ASSIGNED NETWORK NUMBERS
The network numbers listed here are used as internet addresses by the
Internet Protocol (IP) [35,80]. The IP uses a 32-bit address field
and divides that address into a network part and a "rest" or local
address part. The division takes 3 forms or classes.
The first type of address, or class A, has a 7-bit network number
and a 24-bit local address. The highest-order bit is set to 0.
This allows 128 class A networks.
1 2 3
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
|0| NETWORK | Local Address |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
Class A Address
The second type of address, class B, has a 14-bit network number
and a 16-bit local address. The two highest-order bits are set to
1-0. This allows 16,384 class B networks.
1 2 3
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
|1 0| NETWORK | Local Address |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
Class B Address
The third type of address, class C, has a 21-bit network number
and a 8-bit local address. The three highest-order bits are set
to 1-1-0. This allows 2,097,152 class C networks.
1 2 3
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
|1 1 0| NETWORK | Local Address |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
Class C Address
Note: No addresses are allowed with the three highest-order bits
set to 1-1-1. These addresses (sometimes called "class D") are
reserved.
Reynolds & Postel