In the
Internet addressing architecture, a
private network is a
network that uses private
IP address space, following the standards set by RFC 1918 for
Internet Protocol Version 4 (
IPv4), and RFC 4193 for Internet Protocol Version 6 (
IPv6). These addresses are commonly used for home, office, and enterprise
local area networks (LANs). Private IP address spaces were originally defined in an effort to delay
IPv4 address exhaustion, but they are also a feature of IPv6.