IP Address

What is IP Address?

Internet Protocol Address, commonly abbreviated as IP Address, is a numerical address which is assigned to each computing device with a computer network. Those devices make use of the Internet Protocol in order to communicate between its different nodes. There are two major functions of this system of IP Address. An IP Address identifies the network interface or the host. At the same time, through IP Address we can track the location of a particular computer or computer use. An IP Address constitutes of 32 bits. This 32-bit IP Address is called the Internet Protocol Version 4 or IPv4. IPv4 is the mode of IP Address which we commonly use nowadays.

Nevertheless, considering the immense increase of the use of internet, and foreseeing the depletion and shortage of future addresses within the 32 bit IP Address system, a new version of IP Address was prepared in 1995. The threat of depletion of addresses due to the increasing numbers of computers within networks is called IPv4 Address Exhaustion. This new version of IP Address used 128 bits. This new 128 bit IP Address was known as IPv6. IPv6 was even standardized in 1998 by RFC 2460. An IP Address looks like this: 59.93.163.132.

How IP Addresses are assigned?

IP Address is designed and managed by the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority or IANA. IANA works in cooperation with five RIRs or Regional Internet Registries to allocate an IP Address to a particular computer. Thus assigned, an IP Address is used to route data packets within and between networks. Through the IP Address, the source and the destination nodes can be tracked and specified within the given topology of a particular route system. In an IP Address, some bits indicate the sub-networks.

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