Since the 1st of January, 1883, when the internet was introduced to society, there has been a rapid and steady increase in the number of people accessing the internet periodically. In statistically simple terms, the internet gets an average of 700,000 new users per day. That is about 257 million new users per year. With this massive rise in internet users, the need to add an identifier to these active computer systems came up. Owing to this need, the Internet Protocol address (IP address) was invented.
What Is An Ip Address?
An Internet Protocol address, commonly known as an IP address, is a distinctive number used in the identification of every computer on the internet. The IP address of a computer can be assigned permanently or given to a computer each time it connects to the internet (goes online) by a service provider. Recently, there has been a massive increase in the number of devices connected to the internet periodically. With this, it becomes a little tasking to accommodate all of these devices simply by assigning numerical labels to them.
IP addresses are not in any way difficult to read by humans as they are written clearly and displayed on readable formats like 199.1.2.1 in IPv4 and 2003.db6:0:1:2:3:4:0:567:8:1 in IPv6
Who Runs An IP Address?
Globally, the IP address space is managed by the IANA (Internet Assigned Numbers Authority) together with five different RIRs (Regional Internet Registries). The RIRs are in charge of operations in their various designated territories in ensuring the functioning, linking, and assigning to Local Internet Registries like the ISP (Internet Service Providers).
Network administrators are responsible for assigning IP addresses to every device connected online to a network and these assignments can be done on a static or dynamic basis. It depends solely on the software features and of course the network practices.
Functions Of An Ip Address
The two principal functions of an IP address are;
1. Identifying the host and network interface
2. Providing the location of the host in the network
An IP address is very capable of formulating a path to a host. The name of an IP address is used to indicate what we seek. The address indicates where it is and a route defines just how to get there. The header found in every IP packet contained in them, the IP address got from the sending host or the destination host. All of these are used in formulating the role of the IP address.
Versions Of IP
The Internet Protocol version 4 (IPv4) and the Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) are the two versions of IP on the internet today. Originally, the IPv4 was the first deployed Internet Protocol used in ARPANET (the internet’s predecessor) in the early 1980s. The IPv4 address space available to be assigned to internet service providers was exhausted rapidly and this led to the IETF (Internet Engineering Task Force) exploring new technologies in order to expand the general capability of the internet.
With this, IPv6 was formed and though still in testing stages till the mid-2000s, it eventually commenced commercial production. In today’s society, the two versions of IP are used simultaneously and individually used in defining the format of address differently. Although version 1 to version 9 was created, only version 4 and version 6 gained prevalence. While versions 1 to 3 were experimental versions, version 5 was used by an experimental streaming protocol (Internet Stream Protocol) which was never adopted. Versions 7, 8, and 9 were created too but as usual, never gained prominence.
- IPv4
This is the fourth version of the Internet Protocol as well as one of the core protocols of internetworking based on standards. Despite the recent ongoing deployment of this version, it is still used today in routing most internet traffic.
- IPv6
As the sixth and most recent version of the Internet Protocol, the IPv6 is optimal in the provision of identification for computers on route traffic on the internet. This version was made primarily to deal with the address exhaustion of the IPv4.
Differences Between Ipv4 And Ipv6
IPv4 IPv6
| 32 Bit IP address | 128 Bit IP address |
| Operates on a numeric addressing method | Operates on an alphanumeric addressing method |
| Dots (.) separate binary bits | Colons (:) separate binary bits |
| 12 header fields | 8 header fields |
| Supports broadcast | Does not support broadcast |
| Supports Variable Length Subnet Mask (VLSM) | Does not support VLSM |
| Utilizes Address Resolution Protocol (ARP) in mapping to a MAC address | Utilizes Neighbor Discovery Protocol (NDP) in mapping to MAC address |
Locating Your Ip Address
The science of determining the location as well as the connection characteristics of a device connected to the web is known as IP Geolocation. There are a number of platforms available online for IP Geolocation and while many of them have proven handy in providing insights on the features of your Internet Protocol, ipcost is known to provide optimal results in getting information regarding the internet provider, the connection type, longitude, latitude, continent, country, postal code, city, state, and even the region.
If you wonder “what is my ip address” there are a lot of sites that provide this service with ipcost as one of them.
Hiding Your Ip Address
With the high value of your online activity and a need to gain total control of your privacy even while online, hiding your IP address is a smart way to prevent your private and sensitive info from going public. Generally, hiding your IP address will help you surf the web anonymously and shield your location. How then can your IP address be hidden? There are three ways to hide your IP address. They are;
Using a VPN: VPN encrypts your internet connection, therefore, hiding your IP address
Using a Tor browser: Tor is a free network that helps in concealing your online identity using multiple layers of encryption. Tor is typically accessed using the free Tor Browser.
Using a Proxy Server: A proxy server will handle your internet traffic on your behalf by delivering and receiving responses and forwarding requests at the same time. If you’re looking for a reliable, high-performance proxy solution to hide your IP address seamlessly, ProxySale is your ideal choice.
There are about 4.66 billion internet users in the world right now which means 59.2% of the population now has access to the internet. For the best use of this digital platform, it is important to get to know and understand all that this brilliant innovation entails. With this, knowing your IP address and location is very important as it plays an important role in the sending and receiving of information in cyberspace.