The Internet has become something extremely necessary and fundamental in our lives, both personally and at work. For this reason, it is very important to know both its structure and its mode of operation. Throughout this article, it will be described what an IP address is, what it is for, and the existing types among other concepts.
What is the IP address and how does it work?
An Internet Protocol meuip is a unique address that identifies a device on a network. This is made up of four numbers of up to three digits separated by a period, each one of them between 0 and 255 (example: 192.168.10.3). Furthermore, it is important to keep in mind that they can be of various types (public, private, fixed, and dynamic).
To emphasize the importance of an IP address, let’s make a comparison with an example from everyday life:
We woke up one morning and decided to make a purchase on the Internet. In order to send the product to our home, the company we bought it from asks us for our postal address. Then, wrap the product by putting a series of labels on it, (the most important being the destination address) and hire another postal company to send it to the address that we have indicated. More information visit this site: mynewsport
The vehicle makes a route to move it towards our address and then returns to its place of origin. But what if the address is not correct? They could not send the package, they would keep it until some kind of claim was made on our part, which means that without the address there is no shipment. The direction is the most important. Exactly the same thing happens with the information that we send and request through the Internet. A device sends a data packet and the router or routers are responsible for making it reach its destination, complying with a series of rules known as “network protocols”.
What is the IP address for?
One of the main uses of the IP address, in addition to identifying devices, is to allow communication with others within a network. This network can be internal or external, and depending on this, private or public IPs will be used. Likewise, they serve as a guide so that the packets sent from any device know where they have to go and return and are not lost without a source and destination address. Visit this site for more information: rtsnet.
Types of IP addresses
There are several types of IP addresses, depending on their accessibility and durability, which sometimes cause us confusion, such as:
Public IP
It is the one provided by the ISP or provider to uniquely identify our Internet connection. It is assigned only to those devices that connect directly to the Internet, such as routers. These, unlike private IPs, must always be unique and exclusive, they cannot be repeated. Click here and show more information: newstheater.
Private IP
It is used to identify devices within a local network (LAN). These can only be repeated when they are in independent networks and separated from each other. Since they do not connect to the Internet, they will never know the IP address of other devices on another private network, otherwise, they would create meu ip conflicts and prevent the networks from working properly. Returning to the example of the previous section, if when making a purchase I indicate the same delivery address as my neighbor, the company where we buy would not really know who the package is for, or to whom to make the delivery.
Dynamic IP
It is an address that changes from time to time, that is, it has a limited duration and is not definitive. The use of this type of IP prevents the problem of exhaustion of the range of addresses, avoids some attacks, makes tracking more difficult, offers greater privacy, and allows the optimization of resources and time by the administrator if a DHCP server is used. They tend to be more suitable for most consumers as they have a lower price and a lower security risk.
Static or fixed IP
It is the one that is assigned manually and allows a device that connects to the network to always do so using the same IP. With its use, communication is carried out in some cases much faster. But in turn, they have a higher cost and less privacy as they are easier to hack.
Their configuration is no longer as simple and automatic as that of dynamic IPs and they are usually more suitable for companies that have, for example, their own websites or use a VPN connection. Although not in all cases, public IP addresses are used permanently for companies that need their IP not to change. In contrast, private IP addresses are usually dynamic and assigned, with an expiration date, by a router with a built-in DHCP server.
How to know my IP address
The way to know our public and private IP will depend on the operating system that we are using on the device.
To know our private IP in Windows
You have to access the search engine and write “Execute”. Next, a box will open in which we must enter with the keyboard cmd. Click on accept and the system prompt appears in which we will type ipconfigand press ENTER. Finally, we look at the result and look for the line in which “IPv4 and IPV6 address” appears.
To know our public IP address in any operating system
We just have to open a browser and write “What is my IP”, several links will appear in which we can know what our public IP address is. With this we can obtain a wide variety of information: ISP, IP class, if it is dynamic or static, country, proxy, geolocation, etc. For complete info visit our recommended site by clicking on that highlighted link which are mentioned in this article. For more information visit this site: coschedules