![]() The structure of IP addressing is defined so that any host on the public Internet can be found by any other host. ![]() The 32-bit IP address identifies a particular host along with the network on which the host resides. This is because IP is an internetworking protocol that not only allows communication between hosts on the same network, but communication between hosts on different networks as well. With IP addressing, servers and workstations are all termed hosts but each address not only identifies a host but the address of the network on which the host resides. Each server and workstation would have a unique address to distinguish it from the other computers. When we talk about a network we usually envision a cluster of workstations with one or more servers connected to a local area network. In order to make more efficient usage of IP address, the concept of subnetting was introduced with RFC 950. At one time, 32-bit addresses seemed to provide more than enough addresses but there was much waste in initial assignments and the class structure of IP addresses was inefficient. IPv6 was developed because the explosive growth of the Internet will soon deplete the inventory of available addresses. Although IPv6, the 128-bit version, will be used in the future, this lesson will restrict the discussion to IPv4. IPv4 is the most common version of IP addressing requiring 32-bit addresses. An IP address identifies the source and destination of a directed or unicast message and is defined in RFC 761. In a previous lesson we discussed the Internet Protocol and the structure of IP addresses.
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