IP addresses are also called internet protocol as IP address
is abbreviation of it , a unique identifiers that are used by each and every
"server / system" that is
connected to the Internet.
Internet Protocol transmits data or packets between two
nodes and this requires two nodes to have unique addresses that is called IP Address.
In the previous time, Internet was addressed with IP version
4 (IPv4) addresses but after analyzing lack of future addresses as internet is
requiring more and more IP addresses, IPv6 addresses have started to be used.
So IP address is now structured in two different addresses type
"ipv4" and "ipv6".
Difference between
ipv4 and ipv6 addresses assigned to server -
ipv4 is 32 bit number that is typically written as four
decimal numbers separated by periods. An example is "192.168.2.4".
while ipv6 is 128 bit to support larger number of addresses
,typically written as eight groups of four hexadecimal digits. The groups are
separated by colons. An example is "2001:601:113b:50a1::123"
IPv6 is offering a
much larger address pool than IPv4. However, IPv6 is not intended as a direct
replacement for IPv4. Rather, the two address protocols are able to be used
together across the Internet.
What if client need
particular range of IP assigned to his
server?
IP addresses are either "class based " or
"classless".
·
Class-based
IP Address -
In starting, IP address was introduced by blocks. There are
three classes of blocks: Class A, Class B and Class C. The higher the class,
the larger the number of IP addresses in the block. When IP address is made by
using class method then it is called class based IP address.
class Range is defined as below:
Class A addresses range in between 1 and 127, Class B is in between 128
and 191, Class C is 192 to 223. There are also other two classes that are
rarely used- Class D (224 to 247) and Class E (248-255).
Hosting companies /firms divide the IP addresses in its allotted block
to servers /systems in its IP network. And assign the required IP to their client.
e.g. if any web hosting company
"A" is providing you the Class B block of 133.156, then you can use
any IP address between 133.156.0.1 and 133.156.255.254. where
".0.0" and ".255.255"
addresses are reserved.
·
Classless
IP Address -
To allow a more fine-grained way of handing out addresses, Most IP
version 4 address blocks are handed out
as subnets. This approach avoids the class-based division, For IPv6, blocks of
IP version 6 addresses can be obtained by classless assignment .