IPv4aadressid

An IPv4 address is a numerical label assigned to each device participating in a computer network that uses the Internet Protocol for communication. It serves as an identifier for a device, allowing it to be located and communicated with on the network. IPv4 addresses are 32-bit numbers, typically represented in dot-decimal notation. This notation consists of four sets of numbers, separated by periods, where each set ranges from 0 to 255. For example, 192.168.1.1 is a common IPv4 address.

The IPv4 addressing system was designed to support a large number of devices. However, with the exponential growth of the internet and the increasing number of connected devices, the available pool of IPv4 addresses has become significantly depleted. This scarcity has led to the development and adoption of IPv6, a more extensive addressing system. Despite the emergence of IPv6, IPv4 addresses remain widely used and are essential for the functioning of much of the internet infrastructure. Various techniques, such as Network Address Translation (NAT), have been employed to extend the lifespan of IPv4 by allowing multiple devices to share a single public IPv4 address.