A service we use is asking us to whitelist the IP 255.0.0.1 in order for us to use them. I understand this is a limit broadcast address and falls under the category of multicast addresses.
How do I see what IPs it "resolves" to? Is there a list of what companies are subscribed to specific public multicast addresses/groups? Using tools like ping, whois, and iplookup services return nothing for 255.0.0.1
No, 255.0.0.1 is neither the Limited Broadcast address nor a multicast address. Multicast addresses are in the 224.0.0.0/4 range, and the Limited Broadcast address is the 255.255.255.255 address. Other addresses in the 240.0.0.0/4 range are Reserved addresses that cannot be used*.
In any case, multicast addresses cannot be used on the public Internet, nor can the Limited Broadcast address be used on the public Internet. Multicast routing is very different than unicast routing, and all routers in the path of a multicast packet must run a multicast routing protocol, e.g. one of the PIM variants. You can multicast across the public Internet through a tunnel from one site to another site, both of which must run a multicast routing protocol.
*See the IANA IPv4 Special-Purpose Address Registry.
Addresses in the 240.0.0.0/4 range, such as the 255.0.0.1 address you have, are not allowed to be used as source or destination addresses, cannot be forwarded, are not globally reachable, and all that is enforced by IPv4, itself. You simply cannot use that address for anything.
