What is IPv4 Address? IPv4 address is a 32 bit number which is normally displayed in 3 dotted decimal notations. This decimal dotted notation consists of 2 parts primarily one for the network prefix and other one for the host itself. IPv4 address is most crucial part of today’s internet traffic as most of the traffic is routed using IPv4. An IP address is responsible for; location addressing and interface identification.
Network part is used to specify the unique network number that is assigned to the network. One more interesting thing about this part is, it is used to identify the class of the network.
On the other hand host part of the IP address is used to specify the unique number that is assigned to the host of this IP. In the same network the network part of the IPv4 address will be same but the host part will be different for each machine/host.
How IPv4 Address is Assigned?
Well, the assignment of IPv4 address is not a complex thing. IPv4 address or IPv6 Addresses are assigned by a central authority which is known as (IANA) Internet Assigned Numbers Authority. This authority is responsible to ensure that IPv4 addresses are unique and only assigned to one host at a time.
In a local network, router works as IANA. It automatically assigns the IP address to the devices and makes sure every host gets unique IPv4 address so it can route the traffic without any hurdle. Mainly there are two available methods to for the assignment of IP address in the network. One is the dynamic IP and other is the static IP.
Dynamic IP Assignment
In dynamic IP assignment, each host is assigned a unique IPv4 address when host connects to the network. This process is very dynamic and IP address is assigned automatically without any interference. There is no IPv4 address reserved in this method and IP addresses are assigned on first comes first basis. After a host reconnects to network it will be assigned a different IP address from before. This is the most used method of IP address assignment.
Static IP Assignment
Static IP assignment is used where there is a need to reserve IP Addresses for particular hosts. In this method when a host connects to a network it will have no IP address until someone assigns it. This method is used on that networks where hosts are running some type of network services.
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