The major characteristics of IP addresses are as follows:
IP addresses have a non-hierarchical structure that is different from the structure of telephone numbers. That is, IP addresses do not show any geographical information about the host position. The network ID field determines which network a host belongs to.
When a host is connected to two networks, the host must have two IP addresses with different net-IDs. This host is called a multi-homed host. Each interface on a host has an IP address. Therefore, a multi-interface host has multiple IP addresses.
According to the Internet concept, different LANs connected through repeaters or bridges are in the same network. Therefore, these LANs have the same net-ID.
For IP addresses, all networks assigned with net-IDs are equal (regardless of whether it is a small LAN or a large WAN).
