What is IP address?

Internet Protocol (IP) is a networking protocol that uses the Internet Protocol Suite for transmission. IP is responsible for addressing, routing, and packet delivery. In simple words, it’s the set of rules that are followed by computers to communicate with each other on networks such as the Internet or private LANs.

The IP version 4 (IPv4) was used until late 2001 when IPv6 came into use. IPv4 works on a 32-bit address format while IPv6 uses 128-bit addresses. The IPv4 address has been assigned to every device in the world since its inception. However, due to an increasing number of devices being connected on networks across the globe, it has become difficult to manage this task efficiently. As a result, new standards were introduced such as IPv6 which enabled more devices to be connected and managed at once without any problems.

In this article we will look at what is ip address and how they work? We will also see how ipv4 and ipv6 addresses differ from each other? We will also discuss some common terms associated with ip addresses like subnet masking and supernetting? Lastly, we will also answer the question ‘what is ip address range’?

Difference between IPv4 and IPv6

Ipv4 and ipv6 are the two types of internet protocol (IP) used to send data across a network. Ipv4 is considered as an older version of IP, while ipv6 is considered as the newer version. The main difference between these two protocols lies in the way they handle traffic.

Ipv4 uses 32-bit addresses, which can accommodate approximately 4 billion unique devices on a single network. On the other hand, ipv6 uses 128-bit addresses, which can accommodate about 3 trillion unique devices on a single network. This makes it possible for more devices to be connected using ipv6 than using ipv4.

The IPv4 address system has been long out of use since its inception in 1983. As technology progressed and networks got bigger, so did the need for something new emerge that could serve this purpose better than what was already in place. This led to the development of IPv6 by several organizations such as ARIN (American Registry for Internet Numbers), RIPE (Réseaux IP Européens Network Coordination Centre), and ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers). These entities worked together to develop this protocol so that more people would have access to the internet regardless of their location or device type on a particular network.

Currently, about 2 billion devices are still using IPv4 while only about 1 billion devices are currently utilizing IPv6 making it still relatively uncommon today despite being superior from a networking perspective; however, both protocols have their advantages and disadvantages when compared side by side with each other. today – read on!

A computer communicates with another computer through an internet protocol using their unique internet protocol (ip) addresses. These addresses are assigned by an authority so that all computers can identify themselves easily throughout the world wide web network using these numbers called Internet Protocol Address or simply IP Addresses .

See Also: How do I check my IP address?

An IP address identifies one specific device within a networked environment; however, it does not identify who owns or controls that device or system because of this fact it’s known as public/private IP addressing model .

Each networked device must have its own unique set of four numbers known as host ID or host identifier which identifies a single machine on a local area network (LAN).

These numbers are also referred to as MAC (Media Access Controller) addresses in most cases though they can be referred to as physical layer addresses depending on how you want to think about them physically speaking! But regardless of what you call them – these numbers get translated into logical identifiers when sent across networks over protocols such as TCP/IP , WAN etc., thus making them travelable between systems!

This process is called packetization . For example: 192.168.1.5 would be represented by 00-0c-ac-b9 in binary form while 192-168-1-5 would be represented by 52 in decimal form!

How do computers know where packets should go if they encounter two identical packets traveling down different paths at different speeds through routers? To solve this problem multiple unicast routability algorithm answers this question for us!

This means that your computer assigns itself an individual number whenever you turn on your PC , tablet , smartphone etc.. It might seem silly but it’s very important because without knowing your own number no one else can find you unless you tell them what yours is first! You may ask “but how does my computer know where my data needs send after receiving packets from others destined for me?!” That’s where routing comes into play again – if we take our previous example: 192-.168-.1-.5 router knows that packets arriving from 192-.168-.1 must reach 5th floor via staircase route!

If there were no routes available then routers would redirect those packets towards available paths based upon destination information contained within each packet!

With ip addressing being so integral to networking today there are many variations including v6 which was introduced after v4 became saturated but both still remain valid methods of assigning numeric identifiers onto systems within networks worldwide!

What Is Ip Address Range?

A range describes several consecutive blocks of numbers allocated by administrators to devices within their networks so they can keep track of who belongs where inside their organization’s infrastructure . Every subnet has a default broadcast block defined by its network administrator usually ranging from 1 – 255 inclusive depending on whether Classless Inter Domain Routing (CIDR) method is employed or An IP address is a number that allows devices to communicate with one another over a network. The Internet Protocol (IP) is responsible for identifying and sending data from computer to computer across the internet.

What Is A Subnet Mask?

A subnet mask defines which part of an IP address identifies the network and which part identifies the host within that network . For example, if your company’s IP range was 192.168.1.0 through to 192.168.1.255, then your subnet mask would be 255.255.255.0 because it tells you that all addresses in this range must have either “192” or “168” as their third digit, but anything outside of that range would be considered a host rather than a device on the network!

What Is Classless Inter Domain Routing?

Classful addressing method divides networks into classes based upon their size – small, medium or large – and assigns each class with its own set of permanent IP addresses . This means whenever you want to send data to someone on the same subnet it will always get routed directly through your router without any issues however when it comes to sending information out towards other networks / hosts those packets will need to travel across the open internet before being delivered! If we were looking at our previous example: 192-.168-.1-5 CIDR method would mean every packet arriving Subnetting is a process of dividing an existing network into smaller networks known as subnets . Each subnets hosts are given a unique IP address and are considered to be part of the same broadcast domain.

Classless Inter-Domain Routing (CIDR) is a method of routing IP packets that was developed in order to overcome the limitations of Classful addressing. CIDR allows for more efficient use of routing resources by allowing you to divide an existing network into multiple networks, each with its own set of addresses. It’s also known as Variable Length Subnet Masks (VLSM).

Classless Inter Domain Routing (CIDR) Overview

Classless Inter Domain Routing (CIDR) is a method of routing IP packets that was developed in order to overcome the limitations of Classful addressing. CIDR allows for more efficient use of routing resources by allowing you to divide an existing network into multiple networks, each with its own set of addresses. It’s also known as Variable Length Subnet Masks (VLSM).

What Are The Advantages Of Using CIDR?

There are many advantages that come along with using CIDR over classful addressing:

1. Better Use Of Routing Resources When using classful addressing, all routers must have enough information about the entire internet to know where to send every packet without any need s for routing. This can be very taxing on router resources, especially when there are a large number of devices on the network.

CIDR addresses break up these large networks into smaller subnets that are easier to manage and route. This also helps with security because it makes it so much harder for hackers to gain access to your network.

2. Better Security CIDR addresses make it much more difficult for hackers to gain access to your network since they don’t know where all of the devices are located in the IP address space like they do using classful addressing.

3. Easier To Manage Using CIDR is easier than using classful addressing because you only have one IP address per device instead of many different ones like you would with classful addressing

4. Less Confusion When assigning IP addresses, having multiple classes can lead to confusion as to which address belongs to what device or server if you’re not familiar with all the classes available. With CIDR, each block has a specific purpose and is easily recognizable by its prefixes and suffixes

5 .The Internet Corporation For Assigned Names And Numbers (ICANN) was created in 1997 by several organizations who were concerned about how an unregulated internet could negatively affect us all including businesses, consumers and governments alike.

The group wanted an international organization that could ensure that internet users around the world had a say in how their internet should grow and develop over time IC The Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF ) was created to help ICANN meet In 1998, the organization for which today we know as the Internet Corporation For 3.1 IPv4

Classful addressing was used for the first time Classful addressing was used for the first time in 1958 when the ARP Classful addressing was used for the first time in 1958 when the American Radio Association (ARRL) began using a class-based network to connect its members’ stations.