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IP Address Overview and RFC 2460

An IP address is a numerical label assigned to devices in a computer network using the Internet Protocol for communication. It identifies the location of network interfaces and routes data packets between networks. Originally defined as a 32-bit number for IPv4, IPv6 was developed using 128-bit addresses to address the growth of the Internet and depletion of available IPv4 addresses. While stored in binary, IP addresses are usually displayed in human-readable notations like 192.168.1.1. They specify the locations of source and destination nodes to route packets through subnetworks designated by some address bits.

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12 views1 page

IP Address Overview and RFC 2460

An IP address is a numerical label assigned to devices in a computer network using the Internet Protocol for communication. It identifies the location of network interfaces and routes data packets between networks. Originally defined as a 32-bit number for IPv4, IPv6 was developed using 128-bit addresses to address the growth of the Internet and depletion of available IPv4 addresses. While stored in binary, IP addresses are usually displayed in human-readable notations like 192.168.1.1. They specify the locations of source and destination nodes to route packets through subnetworks designated by some address bits.

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chitrarasanp
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© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOC, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

IP address

An Internet Protocol address (IP address) is a numerical label that is assigned to devices
participating in a computer network that uses the Internet Protocol for communication between
its nodes.[1] An IP address serves two principal functions: host or network interface identification
and location addressing. Its role has been characterized as follows: "A name indicates what we
seek. An address indicates where it is. A route indicates how to get there."[2]

The designers of TCP/IP defined an IP address as a 32-bit number[1] and this system, known as
Internet Protocol Version 4 (IPv4), is still in use today. However, due to the enormous growth of
the Internet and the predicted depletion of available addresses, a new addressing system (IPv6),
using 128 bits for the address, was developed in 1995[3], standardized by RFC 2460 in 1998,[4]
and is in world-wide production deployment.

Although IP addresses are stored as binary numbers, they are usually displayed in human-
readable notations, such as [Link] (for IPv4), and 2001:db8:0:1234:0:567:1:1 (for
IPv6).

The Internet Protocol is used to route data packets between networks; IP addresses specify the
locations of the source and destination nodes in the topology of the routing system. For this
purpose, some of the bits in an IP address are used to designate a subnetwork. The number of
these bits is indicated in CIDR notation, appended to the IP address; e.g., [Link]/24.

As the development of private networks raised the threat of IPv4 address exhaustion, RFC 1918
set aside a group of private address spaces that may be used by anyone on private networks. Such
networks require network address translator gateways to connect to the global Internet.

The Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) manages the IP address space allocations
globally and cooperates with five regional Internet registries (RIRs) to allocate IP address blocks
to local Internet registries (Internet service providers) and other entities.

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