Atlanta Cyber Security
IP Address
Here you will learn what an IP Address is.
IP Address – Briefly, an IP address (or Internet Protocol) address can be used as a way of identifying a host on a network for a period of time, where that IP address can then be associated with another device without the IP address changing. First, let’s split up precisely what an IP address is in the diagram below:
An IP address is a set of numbers that are divided into four octets. THe value of each octet will summarise to be the IP address of the device on the network. This number is calculated through a technique known as IP addressing & subnetting. What’s important to understand is that the IP addresses can change from device to device but cannot be active simultaneously more than once within the same network.
IP addresses can either be public or private IP addresses, based on what kind of network they are connected too. Also note, that devices can be on both a private and a public network.
A public IP address is used to identify the device on the internet, whereas a private address is used to identify a device amongst other devices.
Most people are familiar with the IPv4 version of an IP Address. The IPv4 version of the Internet Protocol addressing scheme uses a number system of 2^32 IP addresses (4.29 billion) — which leads to a shortage of available IPv4 addresses considering there are over 50 billion devices connected to the internet.
Enter IPv6. IPv6 is a new iteration of the Internet Protocol addressing scheme to help tackle this issue:
- Supports up to 2^128 of IP addresses (340 trillion-plus), resolving the issues faced with IPv4
- More efficient due to new methodologies.
