IP Address

What is IP Address? 

An IP stands for internet protocol. An IP address is assigned to each device connected to a network. Each device uses an IP address for communication. It also behaves as an identifier as this address is used to identify the device on a network. It defines the technical format of the packets. Mainly, both the networks, i.e., IP and TCP, are combined together, so together, they are referred to as a TCP/IP. It creates a virtual connection between the source and the destination.

We can also define an IP address as a numeric address assigned to each device on a network. An IP address is assigned to each device so that the device on a network can be identified uniquely. To facilitate the routing of packets, TCP/IP protocol uses a 32-bit logical address known as IPv4(Internet Protocol version 4).

An IP address consists of two parts, i.e., the first one is a network address, and the other one is a host address.

There are two types of IP addresses:

• IPv4
• IPv6

What is IPv4?

IPv4 is a version 4 of IP. It is a current version and the most commonly used IP address. It is a 32-bit address written in four numbers separated by 'dot', i.e., periods. This address is unique for each device.

For example, 66.94.29.13

The above example represents the IP address in which each group of numbers separated by periods is called an Octet. Each number in an octet is in the range from 0-255

What is IPv6?

IPv4 produces 4 billion addresses, and the developers think that these addresses are enough, but they were wrong. IPv6 is the next generation of IP addresses. The main difference between IPv4 and IPv6 is the address size of IP addresses. The IPv4 is a 32-bit address, whereas IPv6 is a 128-bit hexadecimal address. IPv6 provides a large address space, and it contains a simple header as compared to IPv4.

It provides transition strategies that convert IPv4 into IPv6, and these strategies are as follows:

Dual stacking: It allows us to have both the versions, i.e., IPv4 and IPv6, on the same device.

Tunneling: In this approach, all the users have IPv6 communicates with an IPv4 network to reach IPv6.

Network Address Translation: The translation allows the communication between the hosts having a different version of IP.

This hexadecimal address contains both numbers and alphabets. Due to the usage of both the numbers and alphabets, IPv6 is capable of producing over 340 undecillion (3.4*1038) addresses.

IPv6 is a 128-bit hexadecimal address made up of 8 sets of 16 bits each, and these 8 sets are separated by a colon. In IPv6, each hexadecimal character represents 4 bits. So, we need to convert 4 bits to a hexadecimal number at a time.

Example of IPv6 - 2001:0db8:85a3:0000:0000:8a2e:0370:7334.

Differences between IPv4 and IPv6

IPv4
 
IPv4 has a 32-bit address length
It Supports Manual and DHCP address configuration
In IPv4 end to end, connection integrity is Unachievable
It can generate 4.29×109 address space
The Security feature is dependent on application
Address representation of IPv4 is in decimal
Fragmentation performed by Sender and forwarding routers
In IPv4 Packet flow identification is not available
In IPv4 checksum field is available
It has broadcast Message Transmission Scheme
In IPv4 Encryption and Authentication facility not provided
IPv4 has a header of 20-60 bytes.

Example Of IPv4  - 192.168.0.1

IPv6

IPv6 has a 128-bit address length
It supports Auto and renumbering address configuration
In IPv6 end to end, connection integrity is Achievable
Address space of IPv6 is quite large it can produce 3.4×1038 address space
IPSEC is an inbuilt security feature in the IPv6 protocol
Address Representation of IPv6 is in hexadecimal
In IPv6 fragmentation performed only by the sender
In IPv6 packet flow identification are Available and uses the flow label field in the header
In IPv6 checksum field is not available
In IPv6 multicast and anycast message transmission scheme is available
In IPv6 Encryption and Authentication are provided 
IPv6 has header of 40 bytes fixed 

Example of IPv6 - 2001:0db8:85a3:0000:0000:8a2e:0370:7334.

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