What type of address is 172.17.2.3 classified as?

The IP address 172.17.2.3 is classified as a private address. Private IP addresses are part of specific ranges defined by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) in RFC 1918, which are designated for use within private networks and are not routable on the public internet.

The range that includes 172.17.2.3 falls within the 172.16.0.0 to 172.31.255.255 address space, which is specifically allocated for private use. This means that devices using such addresses can communicate within the same local network but require Network Address Translation (NAT) to communicate with external networks, such as the internet.

In contrast, public addresses are assigned to devices that need to be accessed over the internet, and they fall outside of the designated private IP ranges. Class E addresses, which are reserved for experimental use and not typically assigned to devices, and multicast addresses, which are used for one-to-many communications often associated with streaming media or group communications, also do not apply to 172.17.2.3. Thus, the classification as a private address is accurate and appropriate for this IP.