Network - IP Address (Unique network IDentifier)
Table of Contents
About
A Network address in the Internet protocol, assigned to a network adapter.
An IP address functions as a unique ID for identifying the sender and the receiver in a network with multiple hosts.
Syntax
An IP address is comprised of:
All hosts on a subnetwork have the same network prefix, unlike the host identifier which is a unique local identification.
Example: Ipv4
| Host identifier | 192.168.1.10 |
|---|---|
| Mask | 255.255.255.0 |
Version
The main difference between IPv4 and IPv6 is the number of possible ip addresses. IPv6 was introduced in 1995 to ensure that the world would not run out anytime soon of IP number.
| IP Version | Bit Address Space | Possible addresses |
|---|---|---|
| IPv4 | 32 | 4 billion |
| IPv6 | 128 | <math>3.4 \times 10^{38}</math> |
Relation
- 1 IP Address = One network adapter. An IP address (IP = Internet protocol) is assigned to each network adapter.
Type
Public
In order to maintain uniqueness within global namespace, the IP addresses are publicly registered with the Network Information Center (NIC) to avoid address conflicts.
The devices that need to be publicly identified, such as web or mail servers, must have a globally unique IP address; and they are assigned a public IP address.
To determine the public IP address, if the computer is:
- not behind a proxy, use one of this link:
- behind a proxy, use one of this link to determine its true IP address:
Private
The devices that do not require public access may be assigned a private IP address and make it uniquely identifiable within one organization.
For example, a network printer may be assigned a private IP address to prevent rest of the world from printing from it.
To allow organizations to freely assign private IP addresses, the NIC has reserved certain address blocks for private use. See private
To hostname
Database Owner
You can query a whois database to see the owner of an IP address.
