What is An IP Address?
An IP (Internet Protocol) address is a unique identifier assigned to each device connected to a network that uses the Internet Protocol for communication. It serves two primary functions: identifying the host or network interface and providing the location of the host in the network.
There are two types of IP addresses:
- IPv4 (Internet Protocol version 4): This is the most widely used IP version. It consists of four numbers separated by periods (e.g., 192.168.0.1), with each number ranging from 0 to 255. IPv4 addresses are 32-bit numbers, allowing for about 4.3 billion unique addresses.
- IPv6 (Internet Protocol version 6): Due to the exhaustion of IPv4 addresses, IPv6 was developed. It consists of eight groups of four hexadecimal digits separated by colons (e.g., 2001:0db8:85a3:0000:0000:8a2e:0370:7334). IPv6 addresses are 128-bit numbers, allowing for a vastly larger number of unique addresses. Exact Number: 340,282,366,920,938,463,463,374,607,431,768,211,456340,282,366,920,938,463,463,374,607,431,768,211,456340,282,366,920,938,463,463,374,607,431,768,211,456 addresses
IP addresses can be classified into two main categories:
- Public IP Address: These are globally unique addresses assigned to devices that connect to the internet. They are assigned by ISPs (Internet Service Providers) and are necessary for devices to communicate with other devices over the internet.
- Private IP Address: These addresses are used within a private network (e.g., a home or office network) and are not routable on the internet. They are used to identify devices within the same local network. Common ranges for private IP addresses include 192.168.0.0 to 192.168.255.255, 10.0.0.0 to 10.255.255.255, and 172.16.0.0 to 172.31.255.255.
In summary, an IP address is a crucial component for network communication, enabling devices to locate and communicate with each other over a network.
Read about the IPv4 address and IPv6 address
Here’s a Scenario where an IPv4 is used
Accessing a Website from a Home Network
- Device Connection to Network:
- You have a laptop at home that connects to your Wi-Fi router.
- The Wi-Fi router assigns your laptop a private IP address (e.g., 192.168.1.2) using DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol).
- Requesting a Website:
- You open your web browser and type in the URL for a website, such as
www.torogipro.com. - Your laptop needs to know the IP address of
www.torogipro.comto establish a connection.
- You open your web browser and type in the URL for a website, such as
- DNS Resolution:
- Your laptop sends a DNS (Domain Name System) query to a DNS server (which might be provided by your ISP or a public DNS server like Google’s 8.8.8.8) asking for the IP address of
www.torogipro.com. - The DNS server responds with the IP address of the website, say
93.184.216.34.
- Your laptop sends a DNS (Domain Name System) query to a DNS server (which might be provided by your ISP or a public DNS server like Google’s 8.8.8.8) asking for the IP address of
- Establishing a Connection:
- With the IP address of
www.torogipro.comnow known, your laptop sends a request to this IP address over the internet. This request includes the public IP address assigned to your home router by your ISP.
- With the IP address of
- Network Address Translation (NAT):
- Your home router performs NAT, which translates the private IP address of your laptop (192.168.1.2) to the public IP address assigned by your ISP.
- The request is forwarded to the web server at
93.184.216.34.
- Web Server Response:
- The web server at
93.184.216.34receives the request and sends back the webpage data to your public IP address. - Your router receives this response and uses NAT again to translate the public IP address back to your laptop’s private IP address (192.168.1.2).
- The web server at
- Displaying the Webpage:
- Your laptop receives the webpage data and your browser displays the content.
In this scenario, IP addresses are used at multiple stages:
- Within the local network: Private IP addresses (e.g., 192.168.1.2) are used for communication between your laptop and your router.
- Across the internet: Public IP addresses (e.g., the public IP assigned to your router and the IP address of
www.torogipro.com) are used to route traffic between your home network and the web server.
This process ensures that data can be accurately sent and received between devices across the global network that makes up the internet.