What is IP address and their Types

What is IP address?

The Internet Protocol (IP) is the method or protocol by which data is sent from one computer to another on the Internet. Each computer (known as a host) on the Internet has at least one IP address that uniquely identifies it from all other computers on the Internet.

When you send or receive data (for example, an e-mail note or a Web page), the message gets divided into little chunks called packets. Each of these packets contains both the sender's Internet address and the receiver's address. Any packet is sent first to a gateway computer that understands a small part of the Internet. The gateway computer reads the destination address and forwards the packet to an adjacent gateway that in turn reads the destination address and so forth across the Internet until one gateway recognizes the packet as belonging to a computer within its immediate neighborhood or domain. That gateway then forwards the packet directly to the computer whose address is specified.

Because a message is divided into a number of packets, each packet can, if necessary, be sent by a different route across the Internet. Packets can arrive in a different order than the order they were sent in. The Internet Protocol just delivers them. It's up to another protocol, the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) to put them back in the right order.


IP is a connectionless protocol, which means that there is no continuing connection between the end points that are communicating. Each packet that travels through the Internet is treated as an independent unit of data without any relation to any other unit of data. (The reason the packets do get put in the right order is because of TCP, the connection-oriented protocol that keeps track of the packet sequence in a message.) In the Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) communication model, IP is in layer 3, the Networking Layer.

The most widely used version of IP today is Internet Protocol Version 4 (IPv4). However, IP Version 6 (IPv6) is also beginning to be supported. IPv6 provides for much longer addresses and therefore for the possibility of many more Internet users. IPv6 includes the capabilities of IPv4 and any server that can support IPv6 packets can also support IPv4 packets.

Types of IP Address

Class         Address Range                            Supports
Class A     1.0.0.1 to 126.255.255.254         Large networks with many devices
Class B     128.1.0.1 to 191.255.255.254     Medium-sized networks.
Class C     192.0.1.1 to 223.255.254.254     small networks (fewer than 256 devices)
Class D     224.0.0.0 to 239.255.255.255     Reserved for multicast groups.
Class E     240.0.0.0 to 254.255.255.254      Research and Development Purposes.



Note: It’s totally possible for your computer to have two IP addresses at the same time. One may be for the Internet and another one for the local area network.

These IP addresses are further divided into two main types: Static and Dynamic IP address. Let’s have a good look at both for better understanding.

Static IP Address

As the name speaks, the static IP addresses are those types of IP address that never change once they are assigned to a device on a network. No doubt this type of addressing is cost effective but could have a high security risk. Static IP addresses are mostly used by web, email and gaming servers who don’t care much about hiding their locations.

Dynamic IP Address

On the other hand, a Dynamic IP address changes each time the device logs in to a network. This kind of IP address is very tough to trace and are thus used by companies and business firms.

You must be thinking as to who or what allocates this Dynamic IP address every time the device logs in. Well, these IP address are assigned using DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol). Talking about DHCP in detail is beyond the scope of this article and we will take it up in a future post.
Which is better, Static or Dynamic?

You are probably wondering which type of IP addressing is better, Static or Dynamic? Static IP addresses, as I already mentioned above, are used in places where security is not a big concern like web servers, FTP and dedicate VOIP services. Dynamic IP addressing, on the other hand are used when you browse through the Internet, receive mails, download files, etc.

That was a basic overview of an IP address, and the difference between static and dynamic IP addresses. Of course, there is much more to these concepts than what we have talked above but for a beginner’s guide, this article should work.


Enjoy IP address and their types