2. Global and Other Specialized Address Blocks
0.0.0.0/8 - Addresses in this block refer to source hosts on "this" network. Address 0.0.0.0/32 may be used as a source address for this host on this network; other addresses within 0.0.0.0/8 may be used to refer to specified hosts on this network [RFC1700, page 4]. 10.0.0.0/8 - This block is set aside for use in private networks. Its intended use is documented in [RFC1918]. Addresses within this block should not appear on the public Internet. 14.0.0.0/8 - This block is set aside for assignments to the international system of Public Data Networks [RFC1700, page 181]. The registry of assignments within this block can be accessed from the "Public Data Network Numbers" link on the web page at http://www.iana.org/numbers.html. Addresses within this block are assigned to users and should be treated as such. 24.0.0.0/8 - This block was allocated in early 1996 for use in provisioning IP service over cable television systems. Although the IANA initially was involved in making assignments to cable operators, this responsibility was transferred to American Registry for Internet Numbers (ARIN) in May 2001. Addresses within this block are assigned in the normal manner and should be treated as such. 39.0.0.0/8 - This block was used in the "Class A Subnet Experiment" that commenced in May 1995, as documented in [RFC1797]. The experiment has been completed and this block has been returned to the pool of addresses reserved for future allocation or assignment. This block therefore no longer has a special use and is subject to allocation to a Regional Internet Registry for assignment in the normal manner. 127.0.0.0/8 - This block is assigned for use as the Internet host loopback address. A datagram sent by a higher level protocol to an address anywhere within this block should loop back inside the host. This is ordinarily implemented using only 127.0.0.1/32 for loopback, but no addresses within this block should ever appear on any network anywhere [RFC1700, page 5]. 128.0.0.0/16 - This block, corresponding to the numerically lowest of the former Class B addresses, was initially and is still reserved by the IANA. Given the present classless nature of the IP address space, the basis for the reservation no longer applies and addresses in this block are subject to future allocation to a Regional Internet Registry for assignment in the normal manner. 169.254.0.0/16 - This is the "link local" block. It is allocated for communication between hosts on a single link. Hosts obtain these addresses by auto-configuration, such as when a DHCP server may not be found. 172.16.0.0/12 - This block is set aside for use in private networks. Its intended use is documented in [RFC1918]. Addresses within this block should not appear on the public Internet. 191.255.0.0/16 - This block, corresponding to the numerically highest to the former Class B addresses, was initially and is still reserved by the IANA. Given the present classless nature of the IP address space, the basis for the reservation no longer applies and addresses in this block are subject to future allocation to a Regional Internet Registry for assignment in the normal manner. 192.0.0.0/24 - This block, corresponding to the numerically lowest of the former Class C addresses, was initially and is still reserved by the IANA. Given the present classless nature of the IP address space, the basis for the reservation no longer applies and addresses in this block are subject to future allocation to a Regional Internet Registry for assignment in the normal manner. 192.0.2.0/24 - This block is assigned as "TEST-NET" for use in documentation and example code. It is often used in conjunction with domain names example.com or example.net in vendor and protocol documentation. Addresses within this block should not appear on the public Internet. 192.88.99.0/24 - This block is allocated for use as 6to4 relay anycast addresses, according to [RFC3068]. 192.168.0.0/16 - This block is set aside for use in private networks. Its intended use is documented in [RFC1918]. Addresses within this block should not appear on the public Internet. 198.18.0.0/15 - This block has been allocated for use in benchmark tests of network interconnect devices. Its use is documented in [RFC2544]. 223.255.255.0/24 - This block, corresponding to the numerically highest of the former Class C addresses, was initially and is still reserved by the IANA. Given the present classless nature of the IP address space, the basis for the reservation no longer applies and addresses in this block are subject to future allocation to a Regional Internet Registry for assignment in the normal manner. 224.0.0.0/4 - This block, formerly known as the Class D address space, is allocated for use in IPv4 multicast address assignments. The IANA guidelines for assignments from this space are described in [RFC3171]. 240.0.0.0/4 - This block, formerly known as the Class E address space, is reserved. The "limited broadcast" destination address 255.255.255.255 should never be forwarded outside the (sub-)net of the source. The remainder of this space is reserved for future use. [RFC1700, page 4]
