The Function of Private IPv4 Addresses

A

Private IPv4 addresses are a range of IP addresses that are reserved for internal use within a network and are not routable on the public internet. These addresses are defined in RFC 1918 and include the following three ranges:

• 10.0.0.0 - 10.255.255.255 (10/8 prefix)
• 172.16.0.0 - 172.31.255.255 (172.16/12 prefix)
• 192.168.0.0 - 192.168.255.255 (192.168/16 prefix)

The function of the range of private IPv4 addresses is to allow organizations to use these addresses within their internal networks without conflicting with public IP addresses on the Internet. This means that multiple organizations can use the same private IP addresses within their networks without causing any issues or conflicts with each other.

Option A is correct because private IPv4 addresses allow multiple companies to each use the same addresses without conflicts. This is because these addresses are not globally unique and are only meant for use within a private network.

Option B is incorrect because private IPv4 addresses are not meant to provide a direct connection for hosts from outside of the enterprise network. In fact, these addresses are not routable on the public Internet and require network address translation (NAT) to be used for external communication.

Option C is partly correct because NAT is required to reach the Internet with private range addressing. However, this is not the only function of private IPv4 addresses.

Option D is incorrect because private IPv4 addresses do not enable secure communications to the Internet for all external hosts. In fact, private IPv4 addresses are only meant for internal use and should not be used for external communication without NAT.