What Is an IP Address?
An Internet Protocol (IP) address is the unique identifying number assigned to every device connected to the internet. An IP address definition is a numeric label assigned to devices that use the internet to communicate. Computers that communicate over the internet or via local networks share information to a specific location using IP addresses.
IP addresses have two distinct versions or standards. The Internet Protocol version 4 (IPv4) address is the older of the two, which has space for up to 4 billion IP addresses and is assigned to all computers. The more recent Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) has space for trillions of IP addresses, which accounts for the new breed of devices in addition to computers. There are also several types of IP addresses, including public, private, static, and dynamic IP addresses.
Public IP Address:
A public IP address, or external-facing IP address, applies to the main device people use to connect their business or home internet network to their internet service provider (ISP). In most cases, this will be the router. All devices that connect to a router communicate with other IP addresses using the router’s IP address.
Knowing an external-facing IP address is crucial for people to open ports used for online gaming, email and web servers, media streaming, and creating remote connections.
Private IP Address:
A public IP address, or external-facing IP address, applies to the main device people use to connect their business or home internet network to their internet service provider (ISP). In most cases, this will be the router. All devices that connect to a router communicate with other IP addresses using the router’s IP address.
Knowing an external-facing IP address is crucial for people to open ports used for online gaming, email and web servers, media streaming, and creating remote connections.
Static IP Address:
All public and private addresses are defined as static or dynamic. An IP address that a person manually configures and fixes to their device’s network is referred to as a static IP address. A static IP address cannot be changed automatically.
Dynamic IP Address:
A dynamic IP address is automatically assigned to a network when a router is set up. The Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) assigns the distribution of this dynamic set of IP addresses. The DHCP can be the router that provides IP addresses to networks across a home or an organization.
What Is IPv4?
IPv4 is the fourth version of the IP. It is one of the core protocols of the standards-based methods used to interconnect the internet and other networks. The protocol was first deployed on the Atlantic Packet Satellite Network (SATNET), which was a satellite network that formed a segment of the initial stages of the internet, in 1982. It is still used to route most internet traffic despite the existence of IPv6.
IPv4 is currently assigned to all computers. An IPv4 address uses 32-bit binary numbers to form a unique IP address. It takes the format of four sets of numbers, each of which ranges from 0 to 255 and represents an eight-digit binary number, separated by a period point.
IP Address Classes:
Some IP addresses are reserved by the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA). These are typically reserved for networks that carry a specific purpose on the Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP), which is used to interconnect devices. Four of these IP address classes include: