Fundamentals
Fundamentals
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    IPv4

    Internet Protocol v4 (IPv4) is a full specification of how communication should work across networks.

    ​​ Addressing

    A subset of this specification is Addressing. Specific to IPv4 is that an address consists of 32 bits or 4 bytes. It’s usually written down like x.y.z.a, where each letter can have a value between 0 and 255.

    The Address is also used for routing packets across the network. That means you cannot simply choose any IP address (similar to that you cannot have a house with a zip code 91000 in New York).

    Some network ranges are reserved. Network ranges can be specified using the CIDR Block notation.

    Some special ranges (there are more):

    • 0.0.0.0/8: The current network.
    • 10.0.0.0/8: Private network.
    • 127.0.0.0/8: Local host.
    • 172.16.0.0/12: Private network.
    • 192.0.0.0/24: Private network.
    • 192.168.0.0/16: Private network. Usually home networks.
    • 255.255.255.255/32: Broadcast address.