IP Address
1. Short for Internet Protocol, IP is an address of a computer or other network device on a network using IP or TCP/IP. For example, the number "166.70.10.23" is an example of such an address. These addresses are similar to an addresses used on a house and is what allows data to reach the appropriate destination on a network and the Internet.
There are five classes of available IP ranges: Class A, Class B, Class C, Class D and Class E, while only A, B, and C are commonly used. Each class allows for a range of valid IP addresses. Below is a listing of these addresses.
Class | Address Range | Supports |
---|---|---|
Class A | 1.0.0.1 to 126.255.255.254 | Supports 16 million hosts on each of 127 networks. |
Class B | 128.1.0.1 to 191.255.255.254 | Supports 65,000 hosts on each of 16,000 networks. |
Class C | 192.0.1.1 to 223.255.254.254 | Supports 254 hosts on each of 2 million networks. |
Class D | 224.0.0.0 to 239.255.255.255 | Reserved for multicast groups. |
Class E | 240.0.0.0 to 254.255.255.254 | Reserved for future use, or Research and Development Purposes. |
IP address breakdown
Every IP address is broke down into four sets of octets that break down into binary
to
represent the actual IP address. The below table is an example of the
IP 255.255.255.255. If you are new to binary, we highly recommend
reading our
binary and hexadecimal conversions section to get a better understanding of what we're doing in the below charts.IP: | 255 | 255 | 255 | 255 |
Binary value: | 11111111 | 11111111 | 11111111 | 11111111 |
Octet value: | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 |
166 | 70 | 10 | 23 |
10100110 | 01000110 | 00001010 | 00010111 |
128+32+4+2=166 | 64+4+2=70 | 8+2=10 | 16+4+2+1=23 |
Automatically assigned addresses
There are several IP addresses that are automatically assigned
when you setup a home network. These default addresses are what allow
your computer
and other network devices to communicate and broadcast information
over your network. Below is the most commonly assigned network addresses
in a home
network.192.168.1.0 | 0 is the automatically assigned network address. |
192.168.1.1 | 1 is the commonly used address used as the gateway. |
192.168.1.2 | 2 is also a commonly used address used for a gateway. |
192.168.1.3 - 254 | Addresses beyond 3 are assigned to computers and devices on the network. |
192.168.1.255 | 255 is automatically assigned on most networks as the broadcast address. |
Getting an IP address
By default the router you use will assign each of your computers their own IP address, often using
NAT to forward the data coming from those computers to outside networks such as the Internet. If you need to register an
IP address that can be seen on the Internet, you must register through InterNIC or use a web host that can assign
you addresses.
Anyone who connects to the Internet is assigned an IP address by their Internet Service Provider (ISP)
who has
registered a range of IP addresses. For example, lets assume your ISP
is given 100 addresses, 109.145.93.150-250. This means the ISP owns
addresses
109.145.93.150 to 109.145.93.250 and is able to assign any address in
that range to its customers. So, all these addresses belong to your ISP
address
until they are assigned to a customers computer. In the case of a dial-up connection, you are given a new IP address each
time you dial into your ISP. With most broadband Internet service providers because you are always connected to the
Internet your address rarely changes and will remain the same until the service provider requires it to be changed.
0 comments:
Post a Comment