What is an IP address and how to find it, how IPv4 differs from IPv6

01.11.18 IT / Misc 5423

Everyone knows that in order to get to any place in real life, you need to know the address of this place. So it is on the Internet, without addressing it is impossible to do anything here. There are special protocols that provide correct and fast addressing on the network.

First of all, the main protocol is IP (Internet Protocol), an Internet protocol that connects different networks into one global network. Accordingly, the IP-address is the unique address of a node or device within the same network. The appearance of this address differs with the versions of the IP protocol.

How to find your IP address

If you need to find out someone else's IP address, it is important to understand that this is confidential information and can only be obtained using some techniques. Well, in order to find out your IP address - there are many ways:

• view the properties of the network connection , most likely there is an internal IP address;
• type the required command in the PC command line - ipconfig / all and see the value of the IP address;
• enter the word IP in the Yandex search bar - your external IP address will be shown;
• using third party sites and services - they will show your external IP address.

How IPv4 differs from IPv6

During its development, several versions of the IP protocol have appeared, currently the most popular is the well-known version 4 - IPv4. In this version, each host is assigned a 4-byte (32-bit) IP address, so the address space is limited to 4,294,967,296 possible addresses. Example IPv4 address: 192.168.0.1 . Addresses began to run out, and the version of the protocol does not have many of the capabilities required in modern times. Therefore, a new version - IPv6 was developed and is now being actively implemented.

Why IPv6 instead of IPv5 ? The protocol versions have been developed gradually over the years, so everyone knows only the generally accepted versions. IPv5 is an experimental development that has proven ineffective and has a slightly different purpose.

Basically, IPv6 differs from IPv4 in the main in that it allows you to address a much larger number of nodes by using an address length of 128 bits instead of 32. In addition, IPv6 has built-in encryption, there is no unnecessary fragmentation packets, which increases the transmission speed, and some other features are also present. Example IPv6 address: 1000: AB0: 0: 123A: 0: 0: 0: 10 .

Why is it not possible to immediately transfer everyone to IPv6 ? This is due to the complexity of adapting equipment and software , so the new version is being rolled out gradually, while the old one will still be supported for compatibility reasons.

Thus, it was considered, what is IP and IP address. This article provides a short guide on how to find out the IP address and explains how the protocol versions differ - IPv4 and IPv6.