Fundamentals of IP Address
The computer is everywhere. With such a wide use, computer has become one of the necessities in the society. It has also been observed that most of the computer users are using computer to browse the internet in order to shop online or to read news or to buy songs or to listen online available songs. Let us assume that you are one of these internet users. Whenever you are browsing a website, you must have read or listen that internet website is logging your IP address. Do you actually know, what is IP address? In a simplest definition, IP address is a unique numeric label that marks your computer on network.
Basically, an IP address shows the exact location of a computer and describes the type of device just like an apartment or a house in a city. An IP address can be written in this way. 128.139.144.1. The four numeric numbers are separated by three dots. The first number of three digit (128 in given example) is very important. For each and every country (or several small countries), first three number is unique which actually identifies the country in which computer or device is located.
Term IP actually stands for Internet Protocol. There are two types of IP address. One is Static and another is Dynamic IP address. A static IP address is permanent and unique number allocated to a computer or other networking device (such as router), just like a thumbprint. A dynamic IP address is a temporary allocated number that is only for current session of internet connection. Every time, a computer enters into the network, it is assigned with the new dynamic IP address. In fact, IP addresses are assigned to find servers, gateways (routers) or computers on the internet in order to browse a web page or to share information or even to play a videogame with the friend.
Now, let me take up a point of your curiosity that how you can know the IP address assigned to your computer. To find that, first of all click on Start and click on the run menu. You will find a box in run menu, where you will find a textbox. Enter “cmd” in that textbox and press enter. This will open a black screen which is also known as command prompt and you will find curser blinking on it. There, please type a command, “ipconfig” and you will be displayed certain text in front of you. The number (as shown in the above format) displayed against the text IP Address is an IP address that is allocated to your computer.
Every computer has an IP and each looks like four sets of numbers separated by decimals. Each set can range from 0 to 255 and are occasionally described as octets. This refers to binary code, the language through which computers communicate. Each set of numbers in an IP Address is shown as eight 0′s or 1′s in binary. Since there are four sets, each being an octet, IP addresses are often referred to as 32-bit addresses. The binary code used to describe any particular IP address may vary and marks what class of network the IP address belongs to. There are five classes of networks, ranging from A through E.
Each class describes how many addresses an organization can support, as well as the size and type of network. Each class provides a certain amount of address space across a network, Class A being the biggest portion and E being the smallest. The first octet in an address shows which class the IP address is apart of. Class A starts with 0. Class B starts as 10. Class C is 110. Class D starts with 1110, and Class E starts with 1111. Classes A though C are standard networks, or unicast networks. Classes D and E are special types of networks, D being multicast and E being reserved. The Classful system is only seen in remnants today and has been effectively replaced by Classless Inter-Domain Routing.
In summary, an IP Address shows where a device is on a network so that other devices may interact with it. When you look up a web page, send an email, play an online game, or connect to any kind of network, an IP Address is being used to make it possible. An IP address is not always intended to identify the device, but primarily where it is. If you want to find your own IP Address, there are many sites that do the work for you and display all the details.
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