What is an IP (Internet
Protocol) address?
Every device connected to the public Internet is
assigned a unique number known as an IP address. IP addresses consist of four
numbers separated by periods (also called “dotted-quad”).
These numbers are usually assigned to internet
service providers within region based blocks, an IP address can often helpful to
identify the region or country from which the computer is connecting to the network.
An IP address can used to show the Internet user general location.
Since an IP address may also be assigned to a
Host name, which is sometimes easier to remember. Host names may be looked up to
find IP addresses, and vice-versa. At one time ISPs issued one IP address to
each user. These are called static IP addresses. Because there is a limited
number of IP addresses and with increased usage of the internet ISPs now issue
IP addresses in a dynamic fashion out of a pool of IP addresses (Using DHCP).
These are referred to as dynamic IP addresses. This also limits the ability of
the users to host websites, mail, ftp servers, etc. In addition to users
connecting to the internet, with virtual hosting, a single machine can act like
multiple machines.
Types of IP
address
The designers of the Internet
Protocol defined an IP address as a 32-bit number and this system, known as
Internet Protocol Version, is still in use today. However, due to the enormous
growth of the Internet and the predicted depletion of available addresses, a
new version [of IPv6], using 128 bits for the address, was developed in 1995.
IP addresses are binary numbers,
but they are usually stored in text files and displayed in human-readable
notations.
Example: IPv4: 158.16.234.1
IPv6: 2002:db8:0:1234:0:567:8:9