| The function of the network layer is to find the best path
through the network. To accomplish this, it uses two addressing methods - flat addressing
and hierarchical addressing. A flat addressing scheme assigns a device the next
available address. There is no thought given to the structure of the addressing scheme. An
example of a flat addressing scheme would be military identification numbering system, or
a birth identification numbering system. MAC addresses function in the same manner. A
vendor is given a block of addresses; the first half of each address is for the vendor's
code, the rest of the MAC address is a number that has been sequentially assigned. The postal system ZIP codes are a good example of hierarchical addressing. In the ZIP code system the address is determined by the location of the building, not by a randomly assigned number.
The addressing scheme that you will use throughout this course
is Internet Protocol (IP) addressing. IP addresses have a specific structure and are not
randomly assigned.
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