IP Address
From TSG Library of Knowledge
An IP Address is a number given to a device that allows to connect to another device on a network. It's usually in the format of four sets of digits, called octets. For example, 209.183.226.152 is an example of an IP address. An analogy would be what a telephone number is to a person, an IP address is to a networkable device. (A networkable device includes a PC, servers, and printers)
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Types of IP Addresses
There are two types of IP addresses: Public IP addresses, and Private IP addresses. Public IP addresses are commonly known as the IP address you receive from your Internet Service Provider (ISP). These addresses allows you to connect to other devices outside of your Local Area Network (LAN), such as a web page such as this one, or to another computer within a large corporate company. In total, there are 16,777,216 IP Addresses in the current scheme, named Internet Protocol Version 4 (IPv4), however there are more networkable devices than IP addresses available so the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority decided to take blocks of numbers and exclude them from the Public IP address range so they can be re-used over in different networks all over the world. These are referred to as Private IP addresses. These IP addresses cannot venture out to a WAN device (ie a web server), at least not without assistance with a default gateway and Network Address Translation (NAT).
The Private IP Address ranges are as follows:
10.0.0.0 – 10.255.255.255, 172.16.0.0 – 172.31.255.255, and 192.168.0.0 – 192.168.255.255. These are also known as Class A, Class B, and Class C IP address ranges (respectively). Many home users may see an IP address range of 192.168.0.x or 192.168.1.x from their router, or default gateway.
However, even with the Private IP address scheme in place, the Public IP addresses are still dwindling down near exhustion. One way this will be combated is by Internet Protocol Version 6 (IPv6) where the scheme will have billions of IP addresses available.
Where did my IP address come from?
There are two ways your networkable device can get an IP address. One way is by receiving an IP address from a Dynamic Host Control Procotol (DHCP) Server. These servers will have a list of IP addresses that is specified by a Network Administrator to give to any networkable device that requests one. Note that this number may change from time to time depending on how many users are on the Local Area Network (LAN). This type of setup is commonly use for devices that do not require the same IP address, for example a company laptop connecting to a network.
Another way is by manually giving the device an IP address, known as a Static IP Address. This means that the device's IP address will never change without user intervention. You would commonly use a static IP address for devices that has a specifc task, ie a server, or a printer. If the device's IP address gets changed, then you may lose connectivity to that device.
What is Your IP Address
The easiest way to find your external, or outside, IP address is to go to a site like www.WhatIsMyIp.com.
To find out your internal, or LAN, IP address, follow these directions:
- Windows Vista: Click Start, type cmd and press Enter. Then, type ipconfig and press Enter.
- Windows XP: Click Start, then click Run. Type cmd and press Enter. Then, type ipconfig and press Enter.
- Windows 2000: Click Start, then click Run. Type cmd and press Enter. Then, type ipconfig and press Enter.
- Windows 95/98: Click Start, then click Run. Type winipcfg and press Enter.
- Linux: go to the terminal and type the following: ifconfig -a and press Enter.
Use of IP Addresses
There are a lot of uses for IP addresses on the Internet.
Advertisers
Companies that advertise on the Internet use a technology called geotargetting. While your IP address is not directly linked to your physical location, there is a public list of what ISP owns each IP address and where they are located. By using this information, advertisers can look at your IP address, see who your ISP is, and display only those ads targeted to that geographic area. (For example, they may show a very different ad to those people located in Canada than those located in Florida.)
IP Blocking
It is very easy for a web site to block your IP address from accessing their site. For example, if you type an incorrect username and password too many times, some servers will block you from guessing further. Tech Support Guy has blocked IP addresses of users who have repeatedly posted only spam to the forums.
RIAA Legal Use
The RIAA and similar organizations can use your IP address to discover who you are if you are stealing music. There are several techniques, but it generally includes discovering an IP address that is stealing music and subpoenaing that ISP for the name of the user who was using that IP address at that time. [1]
