IP, or Internet Protocol, is a set of rules that enables devices to communicate with each other over the internet. An IP address is a unique identifier assigned to each device connected to the internet, similar to a phone number or a street address.
IP addresses are essential components in computer networking that enable devices to communicate over the internet. There are two types of IP addresses: IPv4 and IPv6.
IPv4 is the older of the two and consists of 32 bits represented by four numbers separated by dots (e.g., 192.168.0.1).
This allows for a total of around 4.3 billion unique IP addresses. As the number of internet-connected devices continues to grow, IPv4 addresses are becoming insufficient.
IPv6 was introduced in response to this. IPv6 addresses use 128 bits represented by eight groups of four hexadecimal digits separated by colons (e.g., 2001:0db8:85a3:0000:0000:8a2e:0370:7334).
This offers a staggering 340 undecillion unique IP addresses, ensuring that every device on earth can have trillions of unique IP addresses. Although the adoption of IPv6 has been slow, its importance in providing sufficient IP addresses to accommodate the increasing number of internet-connected devices cannot be overstated.
CIDR, or Classless Inter-Domain Routing, is a complimentary mechanism that allows network administrators to allocate IP addresses more efficiently. It enables the creation of smaller subnetworks, reducing the number of unique IP addresses required to connect devices to the internet. By using CIDR, network administrators can effectively manage IP address allocation, reducing the number of unused or wasted IP addresses.
IPv6 is becoming increasingly necessary due to the limitation of IPv4 in providing enough unique IP addresses for the growing number of internet-connected devices. CIDR is a valuable mechanism that can be used in managing IP address allocation, ensuring efficient use of IP addresses.
What is your IP address? Find out here
Fing is a great tool (Android, Apple) to learn more about your home network and the conversations happening across it.
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