More and more users on the Internet are trying to find out what an IP address is to use the knowledge gained for their specific purposes. Someone was banned on their favorite site by IP, someone wants to surf the network anonymously or set up an internal Intra-network. For such tasks, you need to understand the principle of functioning of network devices using the TCP | IP protocol.
Indeed, network interaction occurs in most cases precisely according to this protocol, and each computer is determined by a unique numerical address that identifies the network participant. To understand what an IP address is, let's find out the meaning of this term. Also, a range of IP addresses (given the concept) and site search in a browser by its domain name will be considered.
What is a computer numerical address
This is a unique identifier separating the host, to which any data arrives to the computer (via the network) or from which certain data goes from the computer to the network. This designation is applicable not only to computers, but also to any other devices that support communication through the TCP | IP driver.
At the address of the web resource, you can also identify its geographical location up to a specific region.
What is an IP address in a visual representation. Internal IP
Here is an example of an internal numeric address on a local area network (LAN): 198.169.1.1. In this case, the first 3 decimal digits indicate the TCP | IP network (many connected computers on the internal subnet). The last number “personalizes” the unique host in this subset.
Unlike global identifiers (WANs), internal addresses cannot function in the Internet space and characterize only the local subnet. Internet access in this case is via a router or proxy server.
In other words, a host address like 198.169.1.1 or 10.12.2.254 is internal. There is a specific range of IP addresses (subnets) that will never be part of an Internet zone. The converse is also true: no computer on the global subnet can be identified by an identifier of the type 192.169.1.X, where X is the IP address of an individual device.
How the browser "searches" for a website using the name typed in the address bar
Let's look at what an IP address is from the point of view of a browser and why its presence is necessary for identifying a resource.
So, when a user enters a website address in Internet Explorer or another browser, the following process occurs.
The IP corresponding to the symbolic name of the resource is determined (dns resolution). In this case, the browser first accesses a special file with a list of mappings. If the desired mapping is not present in the list, the software calls for the “help” to the DNS service prescribed in the operating system settings.
This service independently finds the desired identifier address, and transfers the result to the browser.
Now the browser “knows” what the IP address of the final resource is and where to send the user request. As a result, the user sees in front of him that web page that he wanted to get.
How is the IP address issued?
In a local network consisting of many computers and intermediate devices, assigning each individual identifier manually is too troublesome and irrational. For this process, there is a dedicated host on which the dynamic issuance service is configured from the range of IP addresses - DHCP.
This service is usually configured in such a way that when a particular host accesses it, a specific IP is issued from a certain range of local addresses. Also, the parameters of the network mask and, possibly, the address of the network router, without which access to the neighboring or global subnet is impossible, are transmitted to the host. The remaining hosts must have a DHCP client installed.