Every device on a network needs an ip address to identify itself and communicate on the network.

A host computer that wants to communicate with another host computer on the Internet requires the following to identify itself:

  1. MAC address
  2. IP address
  3. Port
  4. Socket

Answer (Detailed Solution Below)

Option 2 : IP address

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The correct answer is IP address.

Every device on a network needs an ip address to identify itself and communicate on the network.
Key Points

  • A host computer that wants to communicate with another host computer on the Internet requires IP adress to identify itself.
  • Internet Protocol (IP) address:
    • The address provided to a connection in a network is called IP (Internet Protocol) address.
    • It identifies the connection of a computer on the internet.
    • IPv4 is a 32-bit (4 bytes) address, and IPv6 is a 128-bits (16 bytes) address.
    • An IP address does not uniquely identify a device on a network but, it specifies a particular connection in a network.
    • IP address changes each time a device is connected to the network as it is dynamically allocated to the device when it participates in the network.

Every device on a network needs an ip address to identify itself and communicate on the network.
Additional Information

  • MAC Addresses:
    • These are unique 48-bits hardware numbers off a computer, which is embedded into a network card (known as Network Interface Card) during the time of production.
    • MAC Address is additionally referred to as the Physical Address of a network device.
  • Socket:
    • It is one endpoint of a two-way communication link between two programs running on the network.
    • A socket is sure to a port number in order that the TCP layer can identify the appliance that data is destined to be sent to.
    • An endpoint may be a combination of an IP address and a port number.

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Every device on a network needs an ip address to identify itself and communicate on the network.

Each device connected to the internet has a unique identifier. Most networks today, including all computers on the internet, use the TCP/IP as a standard to communicate on the network. In the TCP/IP protocol, this unique identifier is the IP Address. The two kinds of IP Addresses are IPv4 and IPv6.

IPv4 vs IPv6

IPv4 uses 32 binary bits to create a single unique address on the network. An IPv4 address is expressed by four numbers separated by dots. Each number is the decimal (base-10) representation for an eight-digit binary (base-2) number, also called an octet.

Every device on a network needs an ip address to identify itself and communicate on the network.

IPv6 uses 128 binary bits to create a single unique address on the network. An IPv6 address is expressed by eight groups of hexadecimal (base-16) numbers separated by colons. Groups of numbers that contain all zeros are often omitted to save space, leaving a colon separator to mark the gap .

Every device on a network needs an ip address to identify itself and communicate on the network.

IPv6 space is much larger than the IPv4 space due the use of hexadecimals as well as having 8 groups. Most devices use IPv4. However, due to advent of IoT devices and the greater demand for IP Addresses, more and more devices are accepting IPv6.

Static vs Dynamic

How does your computer get its IP address? An IP address can be either dynamic or static.

Every device on a network needs an ip address to identify itself and communicate on the network.

Static address is one that you configure yourself by editing your computer’s network settings. This type of address is rare, and it can create network issues if you use it without a good understanding of TCP/IP.

Dynamic addresses are the most common. They’re assigned by the Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP), a service running on the network. DHCP typically runs on network hardware such as routers or dedicated DHCP servers. Dynamic IP addresses are issued using a leasing system, meaning that the IP address is only active for a limited time. If the lease expires, the computer will automatically request a new lease.

IP Classes

Typically, the IPv4 space allows us to have addresses between 0.0.0.0 to 255.255.255.255. However, some numbers in that range are reserved for specific purposes on TCP/IP networks. These reservations are recognized by the authority on TCP/IP addressing, the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA). Four specific reservations include the following:

  • 0.0.0.0 — This represents the default network, which is the abstract concept of just being connected to a TCP/IP network.
  • 255.255.255.255 — This address is reserved for network broadcasts, or messages that should go to all computers on the network.
  • 127.0.0.1 — This is called the loopback address, meaning your computer’s way of identifying itself, whether or not it has an assigned IP address.
  • 169.254.0.1 to 169.254.255.254 — This is the Automatic Private IP Addressing (APIPA) range of addresses assigned automatically when a computer’s unsuccessful getting an address from a DHCP server.

The other IP address reservations are for subnet classes. A subnet is a smaller network of computers connected to a larger network through a router. The subnet can have its own address system so computers on the same subnet can communicate quickly without sending data across the larger network. A router on a TCP/IP network, including the Internet, is configured to recognize one or more subnets and route network traffic appropriately. The following are the IP addresses reserved for subnets:

  • 10.0.0.0 to 10.255.255.255 — This falls within the Class A address range of 1.0.0.0 to 127.0.0.0, in which the first bit is 0.
  • 172.16.0.0 to 172.31.255.255 — This falls within the Class B address range of 128.0.0.0 to 191.255.0.0, in which the first two bits are 10.
  • 192.168.0.0 to 192.168.255.255 — This falls within the Class C range of 192.0.0.0 through 223.255.255.0, in which the first three bits are 110.
  • Multicast (formerly called Class D) — The first four bits in the address are 1110, with addresses ranging from 224.0.0.0 to 239.255.255.255.
  • Reserved for future/experimental use (formerly called Class E) — addresses 240.0.0.0 to 254.255.255.254.

The first three (within Classes A, B and C) are those most used in creating subnets. Later, we’ll see how a subnet uses these addresses. The IANA has outlined specific uses for multicast addresses within Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) document RFC 5771. However, it hasn’t designated a purpose or future plan for Class E addresses since it reserved the block in its 1989 document RFC 1112. Before IPv6, the Internet was filled with debate about whether the IANA should release Class E for general use.

Subnets

When you type ipconfig on your UNIX terminal (or CMD prompt for Windows users), you will get a pretty detailed display of your IP Address information. I have taken a screenshot of the section that I am interested in.

Every device on a network needs an ip address to identify itself and communicate on the network.

ipconfig partial output
  • IP address: 192.168.1.69
  • Subnet mask: 255.255.255.0
  • Twenty-four bits (three octets) reserved for network identity
  • Eight bits (one octet) reserved for nodes
  • Subnet identity based on subnet mask (first address): 192.168.1.0
  • The reserved broadcast address for the subnet (last address): 192.168.1.255
  • Example addresses on the same network: 192.168.1.1, 192.168.1.103
  • Example addresses not on the same network: 192.168.2.1, 192.168.2.103

IP addresses on a subnet have two parts: network and node. The network part identifies the subnet itself. The node, also called the host, is an individual piece of computer equipment connected to the network and requiring a unique address. Each computer knows how to separate the two parts of the IP address by using a subnet mask. A subnet mask looks somewhat like an IP address, but it’s actually just a filter used to determine which part of an IP address designates the network and node.

Every device on a network needs an ip address to identify itself and communicate on the network.

In the current situation, the subnet mask is 255.255.255.0, indicating that 1 byte being dedicated for the host. It can also be 255.255.0.0 (2 byes) and 255.0.0.0 (3 bytes).

Does every device need an IP address?

Every device that can connect to the internet is a member of the World Wide Web — computers, laptops, tablets, mobile phones, routers, etc. — and all have an IP address. Websites and computer networks require this form of identification for you to interact with them.

Can devices communicate without IP address?

We can communicate without IP addresses on a LAN, and there are protocols that do that. But if you already have a TCP/IP stack on the computer, it's wasteful. Now you have to maintain two logical communication protocols. Now you have to switch between them if you want to relay information out of the LAN.

Why do we need to use IP address on network?

The purpose of an IP address is to handle the connection between devices that send and receive information across a network. The IP address uniquely identifies every device on the internet; without one, there's no way to contact them.

What is an address being used to identify a device on the network?

An IP address identifies a device on the global internet, acting as the device's logical address to identify that network connection. An IPv4 address consists of 32 bits, usually written as four decimal numbers, or a dotted quad.

How do IP addresses communicate?

If a TCP/IP computer needs to communicate with a host on another network, it will usually communicate through a device called a router. In TCP/IP terms, a router that is specified on a host, which links the host's subnet to other networks, is called a default gateway.