Computers use IP addresses (Internet Protocol addresses) to find and communicate with devices on a network. An IP address is a unique numeric identifier assigned to each device connected to a network, whether it’s a local area network (LAN) or the internet.
There are two types of IP addresses commonly used:
- IPv4 (Internet Protocol version 4): IPv4 addresses are composed of four sets of numbers separated by periods. Each set can range from 0 to 255, such as 192.168.0.1. IPv4 addresses have limitations in terms of available unique addresses due to the finite number of combinations, which has led to the adoption of IPv6.
- IPv6 (Internet Protocol version 6): IPv6 addresses are designed to overcome the limitations of IPv4. They are written in a different format and are much longer, consisting of eight sets of hexadecimal digits separated by colons. For example, 2001:0db8:85a3:0000:0000:8a2e:0370:7334. IPv6 provides a significantly larger address space, allowing for a virtually unlimited number of unique addresses.
When a computer wants to find something on a network, such as a website or another device, it typically uses the Domain Name System (DNS) to convert a human-readable domain name (e.g., www.example.com) into an IP address. This IP address then serves as the destination address to establish a connection with the desired resource on the network.
It’s worth noting that within a local network, devices may also use MAC addresses (Media Access Control addresses) to communicate with each other at the data-link layer of the network. MAC addresses are unique identifiers assigned to network interface cards (NICs) and are used for local network communication, whereas IP addresses are used for network-wide communication.
