diff --git a/core/src/main/java/org/jclouds/util/InetAddresses2.java b/core/src/main/java/org/jclouds/util/InetAddresses2.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..82ebbd0df2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/core/src/main/java/org/jclouds/util/InetAddresses2.java
@@ -0,0 +1,56 @@
+/**
+ *
+ * Copyright (C) 2010 Cloud Conscious, LLC. <info@cloudconscious.com>
+ *
+ * ====================================================================
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ * http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ * ====================================================================
+ */
+
+package org.jclouds.util;
+
+import static com.google.common.base.Preconditions.checkNotNull;
+
+import com.google.common.base.Splitter;
+import com.google.common.collect.Iterables;
+import com.google.common.net.InetAddresses;
+
+/**
+ * 
+ * 
+ * @author Adrian Cole
+ */
+public class InetAddresses2 {
+
+   /**
+    * @return true if the input is an ip4 address and in one of the 3 reserved private blocks.
+    */
+   public static boolean isPrivateIPAddress(String in) {
+      if (InetAddresses.isInetAddress(checkNotNull(in, "input address"))) {
+         // 24-bit Block (/8 prefix, 1 × A) 10.0.0.0 10.255.255.255 16777216
+         if (in.indexOf("10.") == 0)
+            return true;
+         // 20-bit Block (/12 prefix, 16 × B) 172.16.0.0 172.31.255.255 1048576
+         if (in.indexOf("172.") == 0) {
+            int second = Integer.parseInt(Iterables.get(Splitter.on('.').split(in), 1));
+            if (second >= 16 && second <= 31)
+               return true;
+         }
+         // 16-bit Block (/16 prefix, 256 × C) 192.168.0.0 192.168.255.255 65536
+         if (in.indexOf("192.168.") == 0)
+            return true;
+      }
+      return false;
+   }
+
+}
diff --git a/core/src/test/java/org/jclouds/util/InetAddresses2Test.java b/core/src/test/java/org/jclouds/util/InetAddresses2Test.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..c0981701a4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/core/src/test/java/org/jclouds/util/InetAddresses2Test.java
@@ -0,0 +1,41 @@
+/**
+ *
+ * Copyright (C) 2010 Cloud Conscious, LLC. <info@cloudconscious.com>
+ *
+ * ====================================================================
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ * http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ * ====================================================================
+ */
+
+package org.jclouds.util;
+
+import org.testng.annotations.Test;
+
+/**
+ * @author Adrian Cole
+ */
+@Test(groups = "unit")
+public class InetAddresses2Test {
+
+   @Test
+   public void testPrivateIPAddress() {
+      assert InetAddresses2.isPrivateIPAddress("10.0.0.0");
+      assert !InetAddresses2.isPrivateIPAddress("11.0.0.0");
+      assert InetAddresses2.isPrivateIPAddress("172.16.0.0");
+      assert !InetAddresses2.isPrivateIPAddress("172.32.0.0");
+      assert InetAddresses2.isPrivateIPAddress("172.16.0.0");
+      assert !InetAddresses2.isPrivateIPAddress("192.169.0.0");
+      assert InetAddresses2.isPrivateIPAddress("192.168.0.0");
+   }
+
+}