network address


network address

(networking)1. The network portion of an IP address. For aclass A network, the network address is the first byte ofthe IP address. For a class B network, the network addressis the first two bytes of the IP address. For a class C network, the network address is the first three bytes of theIP address. In each case, the remainder is the host address. In the Internet, assigned network addresses areglobally unique.

See also subnet address, Internet Registry.

2. (Or "net address") An electronic mail address on the network. In the 1980s this might have been a bang path butnow (1997) it is nearly always a domain address. Such anaddress is essential if one wants to be to be taken seriouslyby hackers; in particular, persons or organisations thatclaim to understand, work with, sell to, or recruit from amonghackers but *don't* display net addresses are quietly presumedto be clueless poseurs and mentally flushed.

Hackers often put their net addresses on their business cardsand wear them prominently in contexts where they expect tomeet other hackers face-to-face (e.g. science-fiction fandom). This is mostly functional, but is also a signalthat one identifies with hackerdom (like lodge pins amongMasons or tie-dyed T-shirts among Grateful Dead fans). Netaddresses are often used in e-mail text as a more concisesubstitute for personal names; indeed, hackers may come toknow each other quite well by network names without everlearning each others' real monikers.

See also sitename, domainist.