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THE Internet: IP
In order for information to be sent across the Internet, both parties in the conversation need a unique address. After all, my web browser needs to know where to find the server which hosts the web page of my online bank if I am going to make my credit card payment in time. And the server which hosts my online banking site needs to know where to send my account information so that I can view it and see whether I have money to cover that credit card payment. That is the job of IP, or Internet protocol.
Communication can happen because everything on the Internet has an IP address which, at present, is 32 bits. This IP address takes the form of what is called a “dotted octal,” some hideous string of numbers separated by dots, such as 161.150.129.166. My bank has an ostensibly permanent IP, which is officially called a static IP address. For all intents and purposes, it always has been and always will be 161.150.129.166. Therefore, I can enter this address in my address list “in pen,” if you will, and I will always be able to find my bank there. (Don’t you try it, though, because you’ll just get an error message.)
I say “for all intents and purposes,” because the world is running out of these four-position addresses. Thirty-two bits only provide just over four billion unique IP addresses. With the growing popularity of the Internet, and the rapidly dwindling supply of IP addresses, expansion to 128 bits is under way.
In contrast to my bank’s permanent IP address, my home computer does not have a static IP address. When the expansion to 128 bit addresses happens it probably will, and so might my refrigerator, my toaster and my bathroom scale, so that it can berate me from afar. But for now, my computer has what is called a dynamic IP address. So, absent without a permanent address, how does information from the bank find my computer? My Internet server provider has a range of IP addresses. When I log in, it assigns one to me for the duration of my session, a short-term loan if you will. When I disconnect, that IP address is assigned to someone else for the duration of his session. But as long as I maintain that connection, it is mine, mine, all mine, and my ISP remembers me and my temporary address.
Sorry for the blizzard of TLAs (three-letter acronyms), and even two-letter-acronyms, but I’m afraid we now veer into the land of FLAs (four-letter acronyms). Next time I'll talk about DHCP.
Communication can happen because everything on the Internet has an IP address which, at present, is 32 bits. This IP address takes the form of what is called a “dotted octal,” some hideous string of numbers separated by dots, such as 161.150.129.166. My bank has an ostensibly permanent IP, which is officially called a static IP address. For all intents and purposes, it always has been and always will be 161.150.129.166. Therefore, I can enter this address in my address list “in pen,” if you will, and I will always be able to find my bank there. (Don’t you try it, though, because you’ll just get an error message.)
I say “for all intents and purposes,” because the world is running out of these four-position addresses. Thirty-two bits only provide just over four billion unique IP addresses. With the growing popularity of the Internet, and the rapidly dwindling supply of IP addresses, expansion to 128 bits is under way.
In contrast to my bank’s permanent IP address, my home computer does not have a static IP address. When the expansion to 128 bit addresses happens it probably will, and so might my refrigerator, my toaster and my bathroom scale, so that it can berate me from afar. But for now, my computer has what is called a dynamic IP address. So, absent without a permanent address, how does information from the bank find my computer? My Internet server provider has a range of IP addresses. When I log in, it assigns one to me for the duration of my session, a short-term loan if you will. When I disconnect, that IP address is assigned to someone else for the duration of his session. But as long as I maintain that connection, it is mine, mine, all mine, and my ISP remembers me and my temporary address.
Sorry for the blizzard of TLAs (three-letter acronyms), and even two-letter-acronyms, but I’m afraid we now veer into the land of FLAs (four-letter acronyms). Next time I'll talk about DHCP.
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