WHAT IS IP & IP ADDRESS

Lets start with the definition of IP. IP or in full Interner Protocol is a suite or combination of protocol which are used for communication on the internet. Now there are major protocols such as UDP TCP and some others but that will be explored later. So when you are on the internet you are using a combination of some of this protocols so as have effective and reliable communication connection.

Now, have you ever wondered how your computers are regonised on the internet? Well if you have you probably will know that it is represented using a string of numbers called an IP address. To be more technical an IP address is a uniqe number which is assigned to a device (mobile phones, laptops, game consoles, etc.) that is connected to the internet or a LAN (Local Area Network). Basically you are represented as a number online. There two types of IP address systems which are the Version 4 and the Version 6 or commonly represented as IPv4 and IPv6.

IPv4 is the more popular one compared to the latter IPv6. It was introduced in 1981 and is still prominent as in it is common even in todays world. IPv4 uses a 32 bit addressing scheme which means there are about 4,294,967,296 address avaible for use. Now as large as this number looks it depleted and there are a limited number left for use. Now while talking about it being a limited there as to be a way to manage this resouce right? and yes you are correct. There is a global body for managing IP address and they are called Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA). Now that we know the global body, there are also 5 regional bodies which are used for distribution which are namely:

• American Registry for Internet Numbers: They are responsible for North America
• Asia-Pacific Network Information Centre: They are responsible for Asia, Australia, and the Pacific region
• African Network Information Centre: They are responsible for Africa
• Reseaux IP Européens Network Coordination Centre: They are responsible for Europe, the Middle East, and Central Asia.
• Latin American and Caribbean Internet Registry: They are responsible for Latin America and the Caribbean.

Now we can see which body you can report to if you need to handle any issue concerning IP address in your region.

Now Having discussed about IPv4, what is the point of having IPv6. So like we mention IPv4 is limited so that is when IPv6 comes to the resuce, now compared to IPv4 which uses a 32 bit addressing scheme and has a total of 4,294,967,296 address, IPv6 uses a 128 bit addressing scheme, so now what do you think the total number address it will have? well theoreticaly it has 3.4×10^38 address which is quite a lot and I dont think we will be using up this any time soon. IPv6 is gaining relevance in todays world cause of the limited number of IPv4 address.

Now with this we have Introduced Ourselves to the concept of IP and IP address, we looked at what these concepts are and what they are used for, and now we can now identify the bodies in charge of managing the distribution of IP addresses for each region . If you want to learn more about this topic, you can tell me in the comments section or you can message me.