Understanding IP Address: An Introductory Guide

Every device that is connected via the Internet or a a local network has an IP address. You can be sure that your smart TV, smartphones as well as Smart speakers come with it. You may have heard of IP addresses and have noticed the way they appear – that number sequences separated by colons or dots.

A IP address refers to the address from which the data you seek via the internet is delivered.

As an example, if you look up your favorite film on the web it takes the search engine several minutes to load the results before it can present them in the display. There’s a lot going on in the back of the screen that you don’t even see. Without an IP address your request will go in the wrong place.

This is why an IP address is.

Let’s look at IP addresses more in depth and the most important information that goes with IP addresses.

What Is IP?

To comprehend an IP address, it is important to understand what IP is in the first place.

Internet Protocol (IP) is an established set of rules to govern the data-packets format or datagrams transmitted through local networks or on the internet. It is a completely unconnected and datagram-oriented technology since it is based in conjunction with a moving computer network.

An IP is independent of a central monitor or directory , and does not rely on a single link or node. Therefore, every data packet must contain the IP address of the destination and source address, along with other important information in order to be delivered successfully.

What Is An IP Address?

A Internet Protocol Address (IP address) is an address that is unique or a numerical label assigned to every device in a computer network by using IP (Internet Protocol) for communication. Internet Protocol (IP) for communication.

An example for an IP address 192.16.2.1

In simple terms IP addresses are used to identify devices in a local network, or via the internet. IP addresses enable data to be sent between the devices, which includes location information , while also making devices easily accessible for communication. IP addresses are a fantastic way to differentiate between devices such as printers, computers as well as routers, websites and others.

An IP address is utilized to serve two functions:

• Locating the location
• Identifying the host/network interface

The Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) manages IP addresses worldwide. Additionally, five Regional Internet Registries (RIRs) control them in specified regions and assign these for local Internet Registry, such as internet service providers and end-users. (ISPs).

How Does An IP Address Work?

An IP address functions similarly to what your home address functions for your home address. If you wish to get a mailer or delivery from an agent you’ll need to provide the recipient your address. If you also want to receive data or electronic mail through the internet the device or computer should have an Internet address so that the person sending it can recognize it and forward the information.

It doesn’t matter if it’s your tablet, laptop, smartphone thermostat, smart lights baby monitor or anything other device that connects via the Internet, each device needs an address or number on the internet for it to connect. communicate with other devices by using an established set of rules or protocol.

This is the reason that every website such as Amazon or Netflix includes an IP address that allows them to connect with you and to send the requested information. But, they also keep the name of their site instead of their IP address, such as, Amazon.com and Netflix.com in order to make it easier for you to locate them quickly. In other words, you have to enter this lengthy number for each website you visited. Names are simpler for people to keep in mind than numbers.

You may now inquire about how IP addresses are assigned to every device.

An IP address isn’t random. It is generated mathematically and assigned through the IANA.

In the example above that shows an IP address, 192.16.2.1 It is evident the representation as a set of four numbers separated by the letter. Each number could vary from 0 to 255 . Therefore, the complete number of IP addresses be found between 0.0.0.0 up to 255.255.255.255.

Types of IP Addresses

IP addresses come in different types, each with different kinds.

1. Public and Private

An individual or business that uses an internet-based service has IP addresses of two kinds both public and private. These IP addresses are determined on the location of the network.

• Private IP address: It is used within the computer network in your office or at home. Every device (computer, smartphone, speakers, smart TV, etc.) connected to your network is comprised of a private IP address allocated by the router.

Since the use of various devices increases and there are more IP addresses in your home increases. So, your router needs to discover a way to identify these devices separately. That is why it creates unique personal IP addresses to each making it easier to distinguish devices on your network. Any devices that are not part of the private network won’t be able to connect to the privately-owned IP addresses.

• public IP: It is used in conjunction with your office or home computer network. Every device connected to the internet or public network will have an IP addresses assigned by an Internet Service Provider (ISP). ISPs provide a range of IP addresses available to customers and assign an IP address that is public the router.

External devices make use of public IP addresses in order to identify your device on the internet. Public IP addresses are one of two kinds of static and dynamic.

2. Static and Dynamic

• static IP addresses The addresses remain consistent, and don’t change often or in a synchronized manner. After the ISP assigns the IP an IP address, the IP remains the same.

Everyone, whether business or personal, is not required to have an IP address with a static address. If you wish for your personal server to be hosted, you need to have an IP address that is static. It guarantees that your email address as well as websites connected to an IP static are using the same IP. This means that external devices will be able to locate you through the internet.

• Dynamic IP addresses: These IP addresses are dynamic and change on a regular basis unlike static addresses. ISPs maintain a pool of unassigned IP addresses, that they assign to their customers when they login to their web service. Customers use the IP address assigned for as long as they’re online. If the user ceases to use the service or decides to disconnect from the internet the IP address assigned will be free and then returned to the pool of IP addresses that are not assigned addresses. These dynamic IP addresses are assigned to new customers.

This method reduces ISPs expenses, as they do not have to complete specific tasks to reset the IP address of a user time and time again. Additionally, it protects users since changing IP addresses make it hard for hackers to narrow in on a single user.

We’ve discussed before static IP addresses for companies looking to set up an internet server to host their websites. In the same way there are IP addresses for websites that are of two types also.

#3. Shared and dedicated IP address

• shared IP addresses: Website owners relying on a shared hosting service provided by the web hosting provider will be provided with an IP address shared by other websites. It’s ideal for bloggers, small-sized businesses portfolio sites, portfolio sites or other sites. in cases with less traffic. They will be sharing an IP address.
• dedicated IP addresses The largest websites are seeking a safer option, as well as professional gamers looking to have more management of their server may choose special hosting packages. You can purchase an exclusive IP address. It lets you acquire SSL certificates with ease and lets you manage your own FTP server.

Therefore you can share your files with other people within your company or remain completely anonymous. In addition, you could access your website using your IP address, not you domain’s.

#4. Logical and Physical

• logical IP: It is assigned by the program inside the router or server. It can change frequently. For example your laptop may be assigned a different IP when you connect it to another hotspot.
• Physical IP address The hardware has an IP address unique to it which never changes. It is an actual IP address. You can utilize resolution protocols to transform a logical IP address to a physical address in order in order to recognize a specific device within an IP-based network.

IP Versions: IPv4 and IPv6

There are two different versions of IP that are commonly used – IPv4 as well as IPv6. Each one is an IP address that functions in a different fashion.

Internet Protocol Version 4 (IPv4)

The first IP version that was deployed on the Advanced Research Projects Agency Network (ARPANET) for the first time in 1983 was IPv4. It is extensively used in a variety of companies. Because of its widespread use it is not uncommon to hear the term “IP address” often refers to IPv4 addresses. define.

IPv4 is an IP address in the shape of a 32-bit digit, comprised of four numbers that are separated with periods. Each number is the decimal (base-10) for an 8-digit binary number (base-2) or an octet. It is a way to allow IP addresses.

As was explained previously as explained earlier, each of the four numbers of an IPv4 address is a range of 1-255.

Example: 172.16.254.1, 192.16.2.1, 192.26.254.1, 172.0.16.0, etc.

Internet Protocol Version 6 (IPv6)

Due to the massive expansion of the internet, IPv4 addresses started depleting in the late 1990s. This led to the dearth of IP address space became very serious to allocate them to ISPs as well as end-users.

This pressured it to push the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) to develop and test ways to expand the capability of internet addresses. They ultimately redesigned the IP as IPv6 in the year 1995. It went through a string of tests until the early 2000s, when commercial use began.

In IPv6 IPv6’s address space expanded to 128 bits, or 16 Octets (from 32 bits, or eight octets as in IPv4). IPv6 is represented by eight sets of hexadecimal numbers Each number set is separated by means of a colon, and can include digits and letters.

Example: 2001:0DB8:AC10:0000:0011:AAAA:2C4A:FE01

Yes, it’s very long however some conventions can help to reduce these.

• You can remove leading zeros from a group. For example , :0021 can be:21:
• Consecutive zeros are written as a double colon and you can only use one within an IP address so long as you keep 8 sections within it.

For instance, 2001:0DB8:AC10 require you to add four zeros in place of the double colon. It becomes, 2001:0DB8:AC10:0000:0000:0000:0000:0011.

The idea behind IPv6 is to increase the range of possibilities and to improve routing by consolidating subnetwork routing prefixes effectively. It has slowed down routing tables expanding in routers. It also alters the routing prefix for the entire network automatically. Therefore, even if routing policies as well as the global policy on connectivity is changed the network won’t require manual renumbering, or internal redesigning.

It is possible to ask: what the reason behind IP versions 4 and 6 and what are the other IP versions between them and later?

Here’s the solution.

In actuality, different versions were defined, starting from versions 1 through 9, however, the versions 4, 6, and 5 saw widespread usage. Versions one and two were TCP protocols name in 1974 as well as 1977 to split the IP specification at the time. In addition Version 3 was released in 1978. v3.1 is the first version that TCP was separate from IP. The next version, version 5, that appeared in 1979 was the experimental protocol known as the Internet Stream Protocol.

IPv6 is a blend of several versions: V6, v7 and v8 and v9.

What Are Subnetworks and Classes of An IP Address?

Subnetworks

IP networks are classified as subnetworks for IPv4 or IPv6. Thus an IP address consists of two components:

• The network prefix is used in greater bits
• Host identifyr (interface identifier, or rest field)

Subnetworks rely on the use of a subnet mask or CIDR notation to identify the way in which an IP address is separated into network and host components. “Subnet” is the name used to describe IPv4 only. Both versions use CIDR terminology and terms.

In subnets an IP address will have an asterisk at the end and is followed by the amount of decimal bits to represent the network component and is sometimes referred to for its routing prefix. The majority of subnet masks begin with 255 and stop at the point that the network component ceases to exist. Example: 255.255.255.0

Another instance, let’s say 172.0.2.1 represents an IPv4 address as well 255.255.255.0 will be its subnet. To illustrate this, CIDR notation could be 172.16.2.1/24. In this case, the IP address’s first 24 bits are the subnet and the network.

IP Address Class

Initially, the network component was the one with the highest-order Octet. This design allowed only the 256 networks that were getting insufficient as more networks grew. This led to revisions of address specifications in order to introduce the concept of a class-based network designs.

This allowed for the creation of a fine-grained subnetwork structure and assigned an increased number of distinct networks. In this instance, the first three bits of the most important Octet in an IP address was the IP address “class.” The design also identified three classes: A B, C and A.

Additionally the IPv4 system permitted addresses that were between 0.0.0.0 to 255.255.255.255. However, certain number are reserved to serve specific functions for TCP and IP networks. The IANA acknowledges these reservations. They are classified into:

• 0.0.0.0: This is the default network that indicates that a device is connected an IP and the TCP network.
• 255.255.255.255: It’s used for network broadcasts that need to be received by every computer connected to the network.
• 127.0.0.1: It’s an application that allows a computer to verify whether it’s got an AP address or not.
• 169.254.0.1-169.254.255.254: It’s the Automatic Private IP Addressing (APIPA) with a pool of IP addresses automatically assigned on detecting that a computer is unsuccessful in getting an IP address from any DHFC servers.
• Other IP addresses are part of subnet classes.

Subnets are a tiny computer network, which is linked to a larger network by a router it could utilize an address system in order that allows the communication between computers within their network without transmitting any information to the larger network. Additionally, routers can be set up to recognize subnets and carry out appropriate traffic routing.

Here are a few of the IP addresses that are reserved for classes or subnets:

How to Lookup An IP Address?

If you’re interested in checking the IP address of your router visit Google and inquire what the IP address of your router is. It will show the answer at the top. It’s actually your IP public address.

There are many other websites to access the same information. If you send a request through your router while you browse websites, they’ll have your IP address. You can go to MyIP, WhatIsMyIP.com, WhatIsMyIPAddress.com, etc., to find out your IPv4 and IPv6 addresses and, perhaps, your location.

Additionally, if you’re seeking out more details regarding an IP address that you already have, here are a few of the websites or tools you can utilize. They can assist you in finding details about an IP address such as its the location the city, the ISP owner, etc.

• IP Location Search The IP Location Lookup is a simple-to-use program that lets you access all the essential information regarding the IP address. Enter an IP address and find out the location of it and the person who owns the IP address. It will show the city, country, region and the ISP.
• WhatIsMyIPAddress.com: This is another good site that will show IP information. Try pasting an IP address into the search bar, then click the button to get information like the hostname, the ISP company’s name, city, state longitude, latitude along with the area code and any known services it provides.

Now, what is the reason you’d require information about other IP addresses?

A company can look up other IP addresses to pinpoint the exact location from which they operate their business. It is commonplace for companies, advertisers and service websites, etc. to get IP address information to promote advertising, as well as other reasons.

What are the methods to find out other people’s IP addresses? Or for others to get your IP address?

Here’s how:

• Through HTML bugs in emails embedded code within an image to inform the sender that you had read the email, along with the IP address of your computer.
• In borrowing a computer, you can determine its IP address
• With your email Logs of your web server Internet forums comments on blogs Social media, email, and messaging applications.
• In a court-issued order to look into online activities by the FBI and other legal entities

You can however mask your IP address by using the Virtual Private Network (VPN) that routes you to a different network by using an alternate IP.

What Are Security Threats Related to IP Addresses?

With the help of various methods hackers are using IP addresses to spread their malicious intentions. The threats associated with IP addresses could include:

• online stalking to obtain your IP address through activities such as video games, posts on forums and websites such as forums and websites, etc. to spread malware impersonation, malware or attacks based on phishing
• The social engineering technique uses HTML0 to track you through messaging apps such as Skype and ask you to disclose your IP address

There are risks in the following situations:

• Cyber Attackers monitor your location by through geolocation technology
• Your network is targeted directly to begin DDoS attack
• Ports are forced to connect in order to gain control over the device and steal data
• Downloading illegal content through your IP address

How to Protect Your IP Address?

If you can conceal an IP address you will be able to secure devices, the online persona as well as your information. There are two options to do it:

• Utilizing the VPN will be the better alternative, as your device behaves as if it’s connected to local networks as VPN. Therefore, you can connect to the network even from a different country, or access restricted sites that are geo-blocked. Example: NordVPN, Surfshark, Proton VPN, etc.

• The use of proxy servers proxy serverprovides an intermediary web server, through which your internet traffic is directed. It conceals your initial IP address, and displays the proxy server’s IP address. Example: Bright Data, Smartproxy, etc.

Conclusion

This article on IP addresses will help you start to understand the idea and go through the terminology. It can also assist you to identify your IP address as well as of those of others by using a few tools. You can also learn how to assess the risks associated by IP addresses and ways to minimize them.