IP Address - What is IP Address?

Internet Protocol Address (or IP Address) is a unique address that computing devices use to identify and communicate with other devices in the network. Device connected to the IP network must have a unique IP address within its network. An IP address is alike to a street address or telephone number in that it is used to uniquely identify a network device to deliver mail message, or view a website.

IP addresses consist of four numbers separated by periods (also called a ‘dotted-quad’) and look something like 127.0.0.1.

Wikipedia defines it as follows:

An Internet Protocol address (IP address) is a numerical label assigned to each device (e.g., computer, printer) participating in a computer network that uses the Internet Protocol for communication. An IP address serves two principal functions: host or network interface identification and location addressing. Its role has been characterized as follows: “A name indicates what we seek. An address indicates where it is. A route indicates how to get there.”

The designers of the Internet Protocol defined an IP address as a 32-bit number and this system, known as Internet Protocol Version 4 (IPv4), is still in use today. However, due to the enormous growth of the Internet and the predicted depletion of available addresses, a new addressing system (IPv6), using 128 bits for the address, was developed in 1995, standardized as RFC 2460 in 1998, and is being deployed worldwide since the mid-2000s.

IP addresses are binary numbers, but they are usually stored in text files and displayed in human-readable notations, such as 172.16.254.1 (for IPv4), and 2001:db8:0:1234:0:567:8:1 (for IPv6).

The Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) manages the IP address space allocations globally and delegates five regional Internet registries (RIRs) to allocate IP address blocks to local Internet registries (Internet Service Providers) and other entities.

IP addresses consist of a series of four numbers separated by decimal points. There are two types of IP addresses: STATIC and DYNAMIC.

Static IP addresses remain the same and are unchanging. They are permanent and are used as easy identifiers. Most ISP’s can offer to assign a single static IP or a block of static IP’s for a few extra bucks a month and may require you upgrading to a business account.

Dynamic IP addresses are temporary and changeable. Such type is issued to customers from a pool of addresses allocated by the ISP or DHCP Server. It is for a large number of customers that do not require the same address all the time for a variety of reasons. Computer will automatically get this number as it logs on to the network and saves one from the trouble of having to know the details regarding the specific network configurations. Those numbers can be assigned to anyone using a dial-up connection, Wireless and High Speed Internet connections.

To maintain uniqueness within global namespace, the IP addresses are publicly registered with the NIC (Network Information Center) to avoid IP address conflicts. Devices which need to be publicly identified such as web / mail servers must have a Globally Unique IP address, and they are assigned a Public IP address. Devices which do not require public access may be assigned a Private IP address, and make it uniquely identifiable within the organization. Example, to prevent the world from printing from it, that network printer may be assigned with a Private IP address.

What is IPv4?

Internet Protocol Version 4 (IPv4), a system of addresses used to identify devices on a network. Originally described in 1981 in RFC791, IPv4, the most widely used Internet layer protocol, at this point it is used by vast majority of users to connect to Internet. More details…

What is IPv6?

Internet Protocol Version 6 (IPv6), an Internet layer protocol developed in the 1990’s (described in RFC2460) as an alternative to IPv4. Rather than using a 32-bit system, IPv6 is based on 128-bit addresses. More details…