Host

A host is computer that is a part of the network. The various classes have different maximum number of hosts that are allowed. Also, some of the host addresses are reserved for special uses. In all of the network classes (A, B, C) host numbers 0 (binary 00000000) and 255 (binary 11111111) are reserved. An IP address with all host bits set to zero identifies the network itself. For example 192.178.16.0 identifies network 192.178.16. 192.178.16.0 would be used in routing tables to refer to entire networks. An IP address with all bits set to one is a broadcast address (there are some variations to this). A broadcast address is used to simultaneously address every host on a network. For example, 192.178.16.255 addresses all hosts on network 192.178.16.