If you’re searching on the Internet for what IPv4 is, you’ve come to the right place. In this article, we’ll take a look at what its purpose is and what its main advantages and disadvantages are.
IPv4 – definition
IPv4 is the fourth iteration of the Internet Protocol and a widely used protocol for data exchange over various types of networks. In packet-switched layer networks, such as Ethernet, Internet Protocol version 4 is a connectionless protocol. Instead, it establishes a logical connection between network devices by assigning each one a unique identifier. Depending on the type of network, there are a variety of ways to configure IP version 4 with various devices, including manual and automatic configurations.
Structure
The construction of an IPv4 address is straightforward: 1.2.3.4. The numbers represent an octet with a value ranging from 0 to 255. Every IP version 4 address has four octets and three dots because the digits are separated by dots.
It’s a 32-bit number that identifies a network interface on a computer. Every number represents an 8-bit field that represents one byte of an IP version 4 address. The dotted-decimal format is commonly used to describe the interpretation of bytes in an IPv4 address.
Advantages of IPv4
Internet Protocol version 4 has both advantages and disadvantages. However, let’s first focus on its benefits. They are as follows:
- Compatibility – IPv4 is supported by any form of network equipment, new or old, and systems support is guaranteed. It is no longer a worry for systems to run on this version. IPv6 requires updates, but it must go a long way to be supported in the same manner that IPv4 is.
- Prefixes in Internet Protocol version 4 are simple. This is useful for logical and physical network topology. So they’re more comfortable understanding.
- Easy to remember – If necessary, IP version 4 addresses are much easier to type manually. They are shorter than IPv6, which implies there are fewer risks of human error.
Disadvantages of IPv4
And, yes, IPv4 has disadvantages. So, let’s take a closer look at them.
- IPv4 addresses are becoming increasingly scarce. There are millions of linked gadgets on the planet, and each one requires its own IP address in order to connect. We are now in the process of migrating to the most recent Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6).
- The length of an IP version 4 header is limited to 60 bytes. There are no additional parameters that can be added.
- IPv4 is expensive. It is widely supported across all platforms. So, it is preferred by many people. This raises the cost of available IP version 4 addresses.
Conclusion
We are now in conclusion. So, let’s take a brief. IPv4 stands for Internet Protocol version 4. Its primary purpose is to recognize network devices. Unfortunately, it is running out, and we will have to switch to the more recent IPv6 protocol.