Internet - IP Addresses

Question 1

What is an IP address?

Answer 1

An IP address is a unique numerical address, used to identify a host or network node communicating through IP on a network.

Question 2

What is the structure of an IP address?

Answer 2

An IP address is composed of 4 octets: 4 sets of eight binary bits, in a decimal format. Typically though, IP addresses are in denary format.

Question 3

Give an example of an unusable IP address.

Answer 3

Loopback IP address - These are addresses which consist of outgoing packets of data treated as incoming by IP software on a computer.

Question 4

Give another example of an unusable IP address.

Answer 4

Private and non-routable IP addresses which are used in LANs and private WANs are unusable.

Question 5

Why aren’t there enough IP addresses?

Answer 5

IPv4 addresses are the main type used in public, but with 32 bits, 2^32 = 4.3 billion which is not enough for the human population. This could be due to the growth in IPv6 addresses, which can grow higher in quantity.

Question 6

Give the two components of an IPv4 address.

Answer 6

• Network identifier (Network ID)

- Host identifier (Host ID)

Question 7

What is a network identifer?

Answer 7

A network identifier is composed of the left hand bits of the 32-bit number, used to identify the network the nodes are communicating on.

Question 8

What is a host identifier?

Answer 8

A host identifier are the bits on the right of the 32-bit number, used to identify the seperate nodes on the network.