IP Addresses and Subnet Masks

As the Internet takes on an ever larger role during our working hours-and perhaps our after-work hours as well-the more people need a better understanding of how IP addressing works and the closely related topic of subnets and how they are defined. For example, installing IP connectivity software, which the current versions of Windows, OS/2 Warp, and the Macintosh OS all include, on a desktop system generally requires that you know your IP address and …

…are presumed to be at fault. If you are installing Internet applications on an organization's network, you must get an appropriate address and the organization's subnet mask from the person in your organization who is in charge of administering them. Aside from the hard-to-find problems that may result from ignorant experimentation with IP addresses and subnet masks, it is a lot of work to go back and reinstall IP software that has been configured improperly.