Internet Address

What is Internet Address

• A number that uniquely identifies each computer or device connected to the Internet.

• IP addresses are also referred to as IP numbers and Internet addresses.

• IP address sometimes is called a dotted decimal number or dotted quad.

IP Usage

• A way to find specific server or computer on the internet or a network

• Provide identity to a computer in a network

• Identify for a particular device/machine on a particular network

• Allows transfers of files and e-mail

IP Structure

• IP addresses usually consists of four groups of number each separated by a period.

• The number in each group is between 0 and 255.

• It is 32 bit long ,each group is 8 bits long

• Commonly written in decimal.

• Written, for example, 128.35.0.72

• These four sections represent the machine itself and the network it is on

• The network portion is assigned.

• The host section is determined by the network administrator

 Reserved IP

IP Addresses

Two versions of the Internet Protocol (IP) are in use:

•  IP Version 4 (IPv4) 
•  IP Version 6 (IPv6)

IP Version 4 (IPv4)

• IPv4 an address consists of 32 bits which limits the address space to 4294967296 (232) possible unique addresses.

                      https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ipv4_address.svg

IP Version 6 (IPv6)

• The address size was increased from 32 to 128 bits or 16 octets.
• Provides the potential for a maximum of 2128, or about 3.403×1038 unique addresses.

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ipv6_address_leading_zeros.svg

Domain Name and IP Addresses

An Internet Protocol, or IP, address is different than a domain name. The IP address is an actual set of numerical instructions. It communicates exact information about the address in a way that is useful to the computer but makes no sense to humans. The domain name functions as a link to the IP address. Links do not contain actual information, but they do point to the place where the IP address information resides. It is convenient to think of IP addresses as the actual code and the domain name as a nickname for that code. A typical IP address looks like a string of numbers. It could be 232.17.43.22, for example. However, humans cannot understand or use that code. To summarize, the domain name is a part of the URL, which points to the IP address.