Appendix A - Network Addressing A-11
IP Addressing
Each of the four subnets can, in turn, support 64 members.
The example subnet used above yielded 4 subnets, but you can use a different
mask to meet the specific requirements of your network.
Default Gateways
A default gateway is a network device, usually a router, that is responsible for
routing data packets out of the local network segment.
The address of the gateway is entered into the devices on the local network,
providing them with a location to send data that is destined for another segment.
Figure A-9
Router as Default Gateway
MAC Addresses
A MAC address is a physical hardware address that gets assigned to the inter-
face of a networking device. This address is typically created and burned into a
device’s ROM during the manufacturing process. MAC addresses are unique to
the device and are not typically user-assignable.
The MAC address is used for Layer 2 (Data Link) communications between
networking devices, and consists of 12 alpha-numeric characters as shown in
the example below:
Example: 00-3f-bf-00-01-45