Use Of Broadcast IP Address
In this piece of content, we will be talking about the IP address. Once again, welcome to jcloude, and in this post, we will be talking about the use of broadcast IP addresses. Have you ever think of what the IP address 255.255 255.255 is used for? Don’t worry. We will take our time to explain it to you in detail.
What is a broadcast IP address?
In a network, a broadcast address is used to transmit to all devices connected to a multiple-access communication network. Meaning if a message is sent for example to a host which is the broadcast address all other network attached to that network may receive that message.
The broadcast address is used in network layer communications. It may be a specific IP address. At the data link layer on Ethernet networks, it is a particular MAC address.
Use of broadcast IP
Before moving to the others, the broadcast IP has several uses, but I will start with the most important, which I believe everyone is interested in.
The broadcast IP is primarily used to indicate that packets (data) should be delivered to all the clients or networks on the LAN. It is the highest number in the network address.
The broadcast IP is dynamically used in DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol) to assign an IP address to a network.
The broadcast IP is used in the ARP (Address Resolution Protocol) to map physical addresses to the logical address. Meaning it is used essentially in the network to identify who is where and what is sending.
Which is a broadcast IP address?
So many people always get too confused between the network id and the broadcast IP. But to make it as straightforward, you always remember that the broadcast IP address is always the highest number in its class. Let me use a class C IP address to demonstrate this example. Take the IP address 192.168.16.0; the broadcast IP address will be 192.168.16.255. The reason is that 255 is the highest number in that network. Basically, you cannot go above 255 in any subnet. And am not saying that all broadcast IP end with .255 because, in some networks, the highest number is not up to 255, just an example.
What destination address is 255.255.255.255 for?
Before I tell you the destination of the IP address 255.255.255.255, let me quickly tell you small about the meaning of 255.255.255.255 in networking. It is a class D subnet mask and a Class E IP address. The IP address function as a broadcast delivering to multiple recipients within a LAN. It cannot reach people connected to the internet because it is not forwarded by routers connected to another network.
The use of the IP address 255.255.255.255. Firstly it is a destination IP address and also a subnet mask.
When the IP address 255.255.255.255 is used as a destination address, it sends all the packets (data) to all the connected devices on the network. This IP address is not in class A to C, so it cannot be assigned to hosts. But it can be used in the ARP where the router does not know the destination of the MAC address of a frame. It sends out a broadcast to all hosts on the network using the IP address 255.255.255.255.
As a subnet mask, the IP address is represented as a /32 in the CIDR notation, which means that all the host bits are turned on, which is used as a subnet of loopback interfaces.
How does Network broadcast work?
I defined what a broadcast address is at the beginning of this post, but I didn’t explain what a broadcast is. So let me take a small of your time to explain what a broadcast is before we move on.
A broadcast in networking can be defined as the transmission of the message that does not require a response to all users of the network, which means that a single computer can send data to all other users simultaneously in a network without indicating the recipient address.
In a non-technical way, I will explain to you that the way a network broadcast work is similar to a mailing list. I mean here that the sender and recipients are not visible to each other, and the sender has no way of knowing the address of the network users.
conclusion
we hope our article was able to explain to you everything you wanted to know about the use of broadcast IP Address. we are open to suggestions, and if you have any information that will be of help to us, just reach out in the comment section below.
