IP Addresses

Overview

A network protocol suite such as TCP/IP (or OSI) has to have a methodology by which devices on the network can identify each other at every level of the network model.

TCP/IP provides identification at the Internet layer of the TCP/IP networking model in the form of IP addressing.

In order to send information from one component to another through a TCP/IP network the information, like our correspondence (postal address, pin code etc.), must contain the address of the recipient and the sender.

The addresses are represented by 32-bit numbers called IP addresses.