Addressing#

We're going to be looking at the different types of IP addresses: IPv4 and IPv6.

As our good friends at Wikipedia have said above, an IP address is used to function as a network interface identifier and a location addressing mechanism. Let's first explore the second of these two items and then we'll look at IP address types.

Location, location, location#

At a network leveling, an IP address tells other devices on same the network and other networks, where your IP address is located from a networking perspective. What we're referring to by "location" is the logical location inside of a network "map" and not the physical location in the real world.

So, instead of thinking of an IP address as the physical location of a device, think of it as a logical one. It can be used to locate a device inside of a network (which in turn can be inside of another network) which in turn can be used to determine how-to send data to the address. It's like a road map but the roads aren't physical roads, they're pathways between nodes.

It can be hard to conceptualise this. With time it becomes easier and it starts to make more sense as you work with the technology day-to-day.

Key Points#

• IPv4 Address
• IPv6 Address
• Public vs Private
• 127.0.0.1
• Classless Inter-Domain Routing
• Special IPs