If the host portion of an IPv4 address is all 0s, what kind of address is it?

When the host portion of an IPv4 address is all zeros, this indicates a network address. This particular configuration is used to define the entire network rather than a specific host within that network. In IPv4 addressing, the structure of an address typically consists of a network part and a host part. The network address is derived by setting all bits in the host portion to 0, which signals that you are referring to the entire network rather than an individual device on that network.

For example, in the address 192.168.1.0, the “0” at the end indicates that this is the network address for the subnet that includes 192.168.1.1 through 192.168.1.254 as potential host addresses. Using an address with all host bits set to zero is essential for routing and identifying the network itself in various protocols.

In contrast, other types of addresses mentioned do not correspond to a host portion of all zeros. A broadcast address utilizes all 1s in the host portion, which allows for messages to be sent to all devices on that network. A gateway address typically refers to a specific device that routes traffic between different networks rather than defining the network itself. Private addresses are simply any address in a