An IP address is nothing just an address that is used to identify a device over the internet known as an “IP address” or “Internet Protocol”.
In simple words, we can say that when an IP address (which is the address of your device) can communicate with the internet by sending data packets and receives information in the form of packets that time the packets/information receives only with the help of the device IP address otherwise the device can not be able to get the information from the internet without IP address.
An IP address, stores some information about your location allowing devices to connect with other devices on the internet. Let me give a real-life example so that you can understand easily…
Example: There is a city name Delhi (Which is the capital of India), suppose your home is in Delhi and you want someone to invite you to your home. Now how you can tell them about your home and where is your home, It’s simply by telling them about your home address. So the address is the important thing to find your home in Delhi. So that’s exactly the IP address work. According to this example, the Internet is Delhi and IP address is the home address and the guy you invited to your home is a data packet so that they can connect with you at your home/your device.
The image is just an example of how Ip address work to communicate over the network/internet. For connecting to the internet there is a need for a medium of source like a router.
Table of Contents
How IP Address Generated?
Well IP address is not like a password which is randomly generated, there is an organization name “ICANN” which stands for “Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers” they assigned an IP address to each device so that the device can able to communicate with other devices on the internet. It is a non-profitable organization that was developed in 1998 and its headquarter is in the U.S. state of California.
Types of IP Address
IP addresses are classified into four types:
- Public IP
- Private IP
- Static IP
- Dynamic IP
1) Public IP
As the word suggests “Public” means it can be easily accessible over the internet with the same IP address that is provided by the ISP(Internet Service Provider)/IANA (Internet Assigned Numbers Authority). In a public IP address, it is the same and one address that is connected with your whole network. Each connected device has the same IP address.
This is known as “Public IP”.
2) Private IP
This is opposite to the public IP address, It is an internal IP address that is only working in the same network or a LAN to communicate with each other. Well, this type of IP address does not accessible to the internet. Likewise, the computer and other devices outside the local network are also not accessible to the private IP.
This is known as “Private IP”
3) Dynamic IP
Dynamic IPs are those IP addresses that can be changed temporarily. This type of IP address means when you connect to the internet that time ISP assigned you an IP address that is dynamic, After that when you disconnect from the internet and then connect to the internet that time your previous IP address will change. It is known as “Dynamic IP”.
4) Static IP
As the word suggests “Static” which means constant, In this type of IP address, your IP will be permanent it will not change whether you disconnect from the internet or not. It is known as “Static IP”
Types of Websites IP Address
On the Website, there are two types of IP addresses given below:
- Shared IP Address
- Dedicated IP Address
Shared IP Address
In a shared IP address, the IP is shared between two or more websites. Well for starting a website there is a need for hosting to store the website content. The hosting provider is able to provide the storage for a website, In the market, there are so many hosting providers available like Hostinger, Bluehost, CloudwWays, etc. In Shared Hosting, they provide the same machine to many customers. That’s why the IP became the same who use shared hosting. Now, who uses this shared IP? there are so many peoples who want to start their websites like writing blogs, Starting small businesses, etc. Inshot the shared IPs are mostly used by newbies who want to start their journey by creating a website.
Dedicated IP Address
In a dedicated IP, The hosting will not be shared with others. The Person who uses this Dedicated hosting for their website acquired the full system for storing their website contents. It is mostly used by the professional user who needs a large amount of storage and traffic handling capacity.
Dedicated IP addresses are certainly more secure, and they allow users to run their File Transfer Protocol (FTP) server. As a result, it is easier to exchange and transfer data with a large number of people within a company, and it also offers the option of anonymous FTP sharing. Another benefit of dedicated IP addresses is that the user may easily reach the website by entering the IP address rather than the complete domain name.
Versions of IP Address are:
Currently, there are two types of versions available:
- IPV4
- IPV6
IPV4
It is the initial Internet Protocol address version. The length of this IP address is 32 bits which means that it allows storing 2^32 addresses which means 4 billion addresses. And, the range of the IPV4 is 0 to 255 example: 198.168.0.1.
Currently, this IP address is widely used over the network and it was developed by the ARPANET in 1983.
IPV6
It is the most recent Internet Protocol address. IPV6 addresses are 128 bits in length which means it allows storing 2^128 address whereas the the 340 trillions address can be made. And, the range of IPV6 is 0 to 65535(FFFF). Example: 2001:db8:3333:4444:5555:6666:7777:8888.
The reason of making this IP address to introduced to meet the increased demand for Internet addresses where the IPV4 does not able to fulfill the demand because it only has a capacity to provide a 4 billions IP address only whereas this IP address has a capacity of 340 trillion which is too huge.