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From where IP addresses can be handed out to individual hosts ?

• The Internet Protocol segments the Internet into small networks, each of which is assigned its own network my-ip address. Every individual network can accommodate a certain number of devices, which are known as hosts or end systems. Every host that is connected to a network is assigned a unique IP address. • In other words, a network address represents a sort of IP address pool, from where IP addresses can be handed out to individual hosts that connect to it, and this address will be its identity both within and outside the scope of the network, for as long as it is connected to it.

Specifics of IPv4

• An IPv4 address is 32 bits long. It is presented in the form of four blocks of 8 bits (1 byte) each, separated by a period ("."), and is written in decimal notation.

• Each block of bits in the address, when translated to a decimal notation, is a numerical value that falls within the range of 0 to 255. An example of a typical IPv4 address would be 10.3.104.150.

• In all, there are around 4 billion possible IPv4 addresses. However, these addresses cannot be assigned at random to any host, or the network that it is connected to. The dynamic formation of LANs, VPNs, and other mini networks, on a need basis at different nodes on this vast interconnected mesh of servers, hosts, and other devices that we call the Internet, brought about the need to reserve IPv4 addresses for public and private use.

• Private IPv4 addresses were allotted to various organizations and institutions to serve as their network address. The entire pool of my-ip possible IPv4 addresses was categorized into three classes.

Class

Range of Private IPv4 Addresses

A

10.0.0.0 - 10.255.255.255

B

172.16.0.0 - 172.31.255.255

C

192.168.0.0 - 192.168.255.255

 • Network classes are actually a representation of how many subnetworks (or subnets), a network having an address that falls within the given range of addresses reserved for the respective class, can be broken into, and how many hosts each subnet can hold.

• A subnet mask is another address that is presented in a format similar to the IPv4 address, which represents this information (the number of hosts and subnets a particular network can accommodate), and it too is provided along with the IPv4 address to network layer devices like routers and network switches, which are used to maintain connectivity between networks.

• When a large network was subnetted, the smallest possible sub-network it could be broken down into (in terms of number of hosts) was still significantly large. Whenever a private address was allotted to a relatively small institution, it led to a lot of IPv4 address wastage, and this contributed to the rapid depletion of allocatable IPv4 addresses.

• A few techniques were developed in the 90s to overcome these problems. One of them, Variable Length Subnet Masking (VLSM), paved the way for Classless Inter-Domain Routing (CIDR), which allowed networks to be broken down into subnets as per the need, so as to restrict the squandering of my-ip IPv4 addresses, and network routes to be summarized before being shared across network layer devices, so as to reduce Internet traffic.

Source:https://techspirited.com/key-differences-between-ipv4-ipv6