Which IPv4 address class allows a total of 16,777,214 hosts per network?

The correct answer is Class A. Class A IPv4 addresses are characterized by their leading bit pattern of 0, which allows for a vast number of host addresses within each network. Specifically, Class A can accommodate up to 16,777,214 hosts because it uses a subnet mask of 255.0.0.0 (or /8), which leaves 24 bits available for host identification.

In practical terms, with a /8 subnet, the first octet of the IP address identifies the network, while the remaining three octets are used for host addresses. This configuration results in a total of 2^24 (16,777,216) addresses. However, two addresses are reserved for network and broadcast purposes, which leads to the usable total of 16,777,214 hosts.

Class B addresses, in contrast, support only 65,534 hosts due to a /16 subnet mask, while Class C addresses are limited to 254 hosts with a /24 mask. Class D, on the other hand, is not used for host addressing but for multicast groups. Therefore, Class A's large address space is the reason it allows the maximum number of hosts per network among the classes listed.