Chapter 4. IPv4 and IPv6 Addressing

LINUX NATIVELY USES TCP/IP AS ITS suite of networking protocols and tools. One aspect of this collection of rules and programs is that every machine on the network must have a unique value or address assigned to it according to the IP addressing scheme. Most of us are already aware of this and have experience assigning addresses in both the Internet and private network spaces. If this is the case for you, then feel free to either skip this chapter or jump straight down to the section titled “Classless IPv4 Addressing” and “IPv6 Addressing.”

However, if you’ve never had to deal with more than just basic static TCP/IP networking with no subnetting, you’re venturing into complex networking territory. Let’s make sure that you have all of the knowledge you need at your disposal.