Network address

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In computer networking, the term network address may refer to one of the following:

  1. A network layer address, i.e. a logical address such as an IP address, X.25/X.21 address or IPX address.
  2. The base address of a classful address range to an organization, i.e. an autonomous system. In order to facilitate the routing process the logical address is divided into two pieces; the network address and the host address. This works much like a postal address where the network address would represent the city and the host address would represent the street address. The subnet mask is used in conjunction with the network address to determine which part of the address is the network address and which part is the host address.
  3. A link layer address, such as a MAC address.