• Homework
  • Thirds
  • Upper Thirds
  • Fourth
  • Divisions
    • ICT
    • Computer Science
  • Fifth
  • Lower Sixth
  • Upper Sixth
    • Upper Sixth Theory
  • Blog
  • Careers
  • Unity
  • Networking

What is an IP Address and how does it work?

Picture
There were 460 Million reachable IP addresses in 2012

Our IP address:

Picture
This is a Version 4 IP address.  It uniquely identifies our network on the global internet.  The address is made up of four blocks of digits.  Each digit is between 0 and 255.

The first digit, in our case - 31, is the block address.  These are allocated by a worldwide central authority, (IANA).  The way in which these numbers have been assigned over time has led to a patchwork, see the diagram below.
Picture
Picture
Picture
There ought to be over 4 billion IP addresses available, but in practice the number is much smaller.
In our case the first part of the address, 31, indicates a block of addresses that have been allocated to the European Naming Authority, RIPE

Our ISP appears to be a company called Synetrix Holdings which is a division of a larger company called Capita IT Services.

They will have applied to RIPE for an IP address or adress range for the school when the school took out a contract with them for Internet services.
Picture

IP Address Utilities

Visual traceroute from Switzerland

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.