Internet Protocols (IP)

For the internet to work every computer and every system connecting to the internet must has an Internet Protocol. The internet protocol is a library of communication protocols which talk to networks and enable data transfers. The Internet Protocol is an open source protocol and is well suited for LAN and WAN networks. The internet communication protocols are of two kinds and the computers need both of them to communicate over the internet. They are called the TCP or the Transmission Control Protocol and the IP or the Internet Protocol.

The common applications like E-mail, file transfers take place using the TCP/IP. The application of the Internet Protocols is not limited to e-mails and data transfers; there are many facets in which TCP/IP is used and it is branched out in many directions.

IP Addresses

The Internet Protocol address is an individual address allocated by the server to the computer that is trying to establish a connection with it. The server identifies the computer using this IP Address which is a number on the network. The IP Address is stored in the Transmission control protocol. The IP address is made up of various components and it follows a specific format.

The IP Address is a 32 bit logical address and the number signifies the network number and the host number. The number is divided using decimals and these IP addresses can be used to sub network.

The Internet Protocol

The architecture of the Internet Protocol is based on 3 layers and these 3 layers contain information about network addresses and the data packets. The primary network layer among the 3 layers will hold the IP address. The other crucial part of the Internet Protocol is the Internet packets which carries data in them. These packets are transmitted using the IP and TCP to and fro on the internet. The IP packets follow a specific format so that they can be identified by the computers and they are directed to the right location.

IP Packet Format

• The IP Packet contains the version of the Internet Protocol that is being used. This information helps to establish compatibility with various protocols.

• The IP Header length contains information about the length of the datagram and each header is about 32 bits long.

• The type of service is also specified by the datagram and the upper layer of the Internet Protocol also specifies how the datagram should be handled by other services.

• The total length is a specification that contains the length of the message in bytes and it also includes the information about the data and the header.

• The Identification part of the IP Packet contains an integer that actually represents the datagram and when the different datagram’s are being put together these integers come in handy.

• The flags within the IP Packets have three fragments which contains information about how the packet has to be distributed.

• Time to live or TTL is a pre determined amount of time that lets the packet last for the pre determined time. Every Internet Protocol packet can only live for sometime and before that if it doesn’t reach the destination or if it is idling for along time then the packet becomes invalid and loses the information within it.

Conclusion

Without the Internet Protocols nothing can work on the internet. Internet Protocols have to be updated on a frequent basis and the versions have to be update so that they can communicate efficiently on the internet. IP addressing system and the transmission control systems together handle the entire data transfers. Complicated networks and simple networks need the basic TCP/IP to function on the internet.