IP Addressing

5 minutes 5 Questions

IP Addressing refers to the method of assigning a unique identifier, known as an IP address, to each device connected to a network. IP addresses are used to locate and identify devices in order to establish connections and facilitate communication between them. There are two versions of IP addresses - IPv4, which uses 32-bit addresses, and IPv6, which uses 128-bit addresses. Each version has its unique structure and address space. IP addressing also involves subnets and subnet masks, which segregate networks into smaller groups of devices, simplifying the routing and management of network traffic. Understanding IP addressing is essential for network configuration, troubleshooting, and security.

Guide on IP Addressing

An IP Address is a unique set of numbers that identifies each computer using the Internet Protocol to communicate over a network. It is important as it allows a specific computer to be identified in a network.

How IP Addressing works: Every machine on a network has a unique identifier. Just as you would address a letter to send in the mail, computers use the unique identifier to send data to specific computers on a network.

In IP version 4 (IPv4), a IP address consists of four numbers separated by dots. Each number can be zero to 255. For example, 192.168.100.1 could be an IP address.

In IP version 6 (IPv6), an IP address consists of eight groups of four hexadecimal digits, each group representing 16 bits. For example, 2001:0db8:85a3:0000:0000:8a2e:0370:7334 could be an IP address.

Exam Tips: IP addressing questions typically involve calculating subnet masks, private and public IP address ranges, or understanding notions about static and dynamic IP addresses.

1. Understand IP address classes: There are five different classes of IP addresses (A, B, C, D, and E). Know how to identify which class an IP address belongs to based on its range.

2. Subnetting skills: be acquainted with subnetting skills to be able to divide IP addresses into subnets.

3. Private vs Public IP addresses: know the difference between private and public IP addresses and they are in which ranges.

4. Static vs Dynamic IP addresses: understand the difference between static and dynamic IP addresses.

By mastering this, you can make sure to get the best score possible in answering IP addressing questions.

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Question 1

John is troubleshooting an issue with a computer that cannot access network resources. He discovers that the computer's IPv4 address is 169.254.5.183. What is causing the issue?

A loopback address A properly assigned DHCP address A static IP address was assigned APIPA assigned address

Correct Answer: APIPA assigned address

The IPv4 address 169.254.5.183 is an automatically assigned address, known as an Automatic Private Internet Protocol Addressing (APIPA) address. This is generally given to a computer when it is set to obtain an IP address automatically but was unable to receive an IP address from a Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) server. This address lets the computer communicate with other devices that have addresses in the same APIPA range (169.254.0.0 to 169.254.255.255), but it cannot connect to network resources outside this range, hence the reported issue. The other options are incorrect. A static IP address is manually assigned and wouldn't likely involve this range, a properly assigned DHCP address would let the computer connect with network resources, and a loopback address (127.0.0.1) is used for internal testing of the computer's network interface.

Question 2

A network administrator needs to create 16 subnets from a Class C network. Which subnet mask should be used?

255.255.255.240 255.255.255.224 255.255.255.248 255.255.255.192

Correct Answer: 255.255.255.240

The correct subnet mask for creating 16 subnets from a Class C network is 255.255.255.240.

To understand this, let's break it down:

1. A Class C network has a default subnet mask of 255.255.255.0.
2. To create subnets, we need to borrow bits from the host portion of the address.
3. To create 16 subnets, we need 4 bits (2^4 = 16).
4. Borrowing 4 bits from the last octet gives us: 11110000 in binary.
5. 11110000 in binary is equal to 240 in decimal.

Therefore, the correct subnet mask is 255.255.255.240.

The other options are incorrect:

255.255.255.224 would create 8 subnets (not enough).
255.255.255.248 would create 32 subnets (too many).
255.255.255.192 would create 4 subnets (not enough).

Understanding subnet masks is crucial for network administrators to efficiently divide networks and manage IP addressing schemes.

Question 3

Jim's server has an IP address of 192.168.1.5 and a subnet mask of 255.255.255.0. What is the maximum number of hosts that he can have in the same subnet?

255 256 254 512

Correct Answer: 254

The subnet mask of 255.255.255.0 provides 256 potential IP addresses (the total number of IPv4 addresses in one byte is 2 raised to the power of 8 equals 256). However, because the first address describes the network and the last one is reserved for the broadcast address, these cannot be used to host devices. Therefore, the maximum number of hosts that Jim can have in the same subnet would be 256 - 2 equals 254. This makes '254' the correct answer. The other answers are incorrect: '255' only subtracts the network address yet includes the broadcast address, '256' neglects to subtract both the network and broadcast addresses, and '512' is simply too high for a subnet mask of 255.255.255.0.

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