Hornet Technology

Binary Basics

Binary is a base-2 number system, which uses only two digits: 0 and 1. Each digit is referred to as a bit. In the context of networking, binary is used to represent IP addresses.

IP Addresses

An IP address is a unique identifier for devices on a network. The most common version of IP addresses (IPv4) is a 32-bit number, represented as four sets of numbers ranging from 0 to 255, separated by periods (e.g., 192.168.1.1). Each of these sets is called an octet.

Converting Decimal to Binary

To convert a decimal number to binary, follow these steps:

1. Divide the number by 2.
2. Record the remainder.
3. Continue this process with the quotient until it is 0.
4. The binary equivalent is the remainders read in reverse order.

For example, to convert 192 to binary:

192 / 2 = 96 remainder 0 (least significant bit)
96 / 2 = 48 remainder 0
48 / 2 = 24 remainder 0
24 / 2 = 12 remainder 0
12 / 2 = 6 remainder 0
6 / 2 = 3 remainder 0
3 / 2 = 1 remainder 1
1 / 2 = 0 remainder 1 (most significant bit)

So, 192 in binary is 11000000.

Decoding IP Addresses

To decode an IP address, you convert each octet to binary, then interpret the binary in the context of the network. For example, the IP address 192.168.1.1 would be:

192 = 11000000
168 = 10101000
1 = 00000001
1 = 00000001

So, 192.168.1.1 in binary is 11000000.10101000.00000001.00000001.