Have you ever noticed how sometimes all the tech
stuff at work or at school can feel like it's
just its own little world? You're not in IT,
so you don't really get it. It can almost feel
like you're trying to learn another language.
Oh yeah, for sure. Technology is such a huge
part of what we do all the time now, but it's
not always easy to really understand all the
basic stuff that makes it actually work right.
Exactly. And that's why in this deep dive, what
we want to do is kind of take apart and explain
this really basic idea, the IP address. OK. So
you can think of this like you're learning this
key bit of knowledge. And this is going to help
you talk to all those tech people around you
way more confidently. Right. And the source we're
using for this is actually a great one. It's
called EdTech for Ed Leaders, IP addresses. And
it does such a good job breaking all this down.
Yeah, it's a good one. So right off the bat,
something that's super important to understand
is that there are actually two main types of
addresses that we're going to look at here. One
is this permanent identifier that's built into
the hardware itself. And then the other one is
more temporary. It gets assigned when a device
connects up to a network. So we're talking about
the MIT address, which is that unchanging physical
address, and then the IP address, which is a
lot more dynamic. And understanding how these
two things actually worked together. that is
like the key to understanding how devices can
actually talk to each other. So it's like, how
do those little bits of information actually
get where they need to go all across the network?
All right, so let's start breaking this down.
Let's start with the MAC address, the permanent
one. OK, so the MAC address or the media access
control address is like the basic identifier
for really any piece of networking hardware you
can think of. your laptop, your smartphone, a
network -connected printer, all these have a
unique MRC address, and it's basically put right
onto the hardware when it's made. You can kind
of think of it like a fingerprint for that device's
network card. Oh, I see. It's like a device's
permanent... birth certificate never changes.
So even if you take your device and you move
it from your home network over to your work network,
its MAC address is always going to be the same.
Right, and that makes it super valuable because
it's always unique and constant. Being able to
specifically identify devices on a local network.
So the article talks about network sniffers.
And those are tools that capture and analyze
all the data that's going across a network. So
administrators can see exactly which devices
are talking to each other. And they're identified
by their MAC addresses. And this ability to identify
things so specifically is super important for
stuff like diagnosing network problems and security
monitoring. OK, so that's the permanent ID. Now
let's talk about the IP address, which is more
temporary. It's how we locate a device. How does
that work? So the IP address is this temporary
address that gets given to a device whenever
it connects to a network. And that's where something
called DHCP comes in, the Dynamic Host Configuration
Protocol. And you can kind of think of DHCP like
this automated system that's handing out all
these temporary IP addresses from like a pool
of available addresses every time a device connects.
OK, so it's like when your tablet connects to
the Wi -Fi at the coffee shop, for instance.
And like a DHCP server, which is probably running
on the router, it says, all right, here's an
IP address you can use while you're here. Yeah,
exactly. And the thing to remember here is this
IP address is going to probably be different
the next time you connect your tablet to the
same network. or if you connect it to a different
network. It's not tied to the physical hardware
in the same way that a MAC address is. Right,
right. Now the source we're using here points
out that this pool of IP addresses that the DHCP
server is managing it isn't unlimited, right?
So what happens if it gets totally used up? Oh,
that's a super important point. If a DHCP server
actually runs out of IP addresses, any new device
that tries to connect just won't be able to.
Like think about a lecture hall that's totally
full of students and the pool of IP addresses
isn't big enough. Some students might not be
able to get on the network at all. So it's really
important to configure the DHDP server correctly,
make sure there are enough addresses for all
the devices that are going to try and connect.
Okay, that makes a lot of sense. So we've got
these temporary IP addresses and the source mentions
something about IPv4 and IPv6. What are those
two different versions all about? Yeah, so that
has to do with how IP addresses are actually
structured and how the internet has changed over
time. So IPv4, that's the older system, and it's
probably the kind of address that you're most
familiar with. It's four sets of numbers separated
by dots. It's called a quad dot address. So like
an example would be something like 192 .168 .1
.1100. Yeah, those are the ones I recognize.
So what was the problem with that system? So
each IPv4 address uses 32 bits, which means that
in theory there is a maximum number of IP addresses.
It's only around 4 .3 billion unique IP addresses.
When the internet was first developed, that seemed
like a huge number. But with the internet growing
so fast and all these devices connecting to it,
like computers and smartphones and tablets, even
smart appliances, now we're starting to see a
real shortage of those IPv4 addresses. Oh, wow.
So what did they do? How did they fix that problem?
Well, so the answer is IPv6, which is the newer
internet protocol version 6. In this system,
uses 128 bits for each address. So to give you
an idea of how big that is, the article gives
us an example. 2001 .0db8 .85a3 .882e .037 .7334.
Oh my gosh. And in terms of how many possible
addresses we're talking about, like roughly 3
.4 times 10 to the power of 38. Whoa. So like
a crazy huge number. And this pretty much solves
the problem of running out of addresses, you
know, for a really long time. Yeah, that's a
massive change. So like, is everybody using IPv6?
IPv6 now, exclusively? Well, not just yet. The
article says that most networks today are actually
set up to support both IPv4 and IPv6. Oh. Yeah,
IPv6 is definitely the future for the internet
as a whole, you know. But IPv4 is still used
a lot for local area networks or lands like you
might find at home or at school or an office
building. Right, that makes sense. So within
these local networks that are still using IPv4
a lot of the time, how are those IP addresses
managed? Because the source mentioned that there's
a limited number available, right? Yeah, that's
right. So within a typical LAN that's using IPv4,
there's usually only a certain number of addresses
available. And this is in what's called a subnet.
The article simplifies this a bit by saying,
like, a common setup might have around 255 addresses
that can be used. So something like 192 .168
.0 .1 all the way to 192 .168 .0 .255. And you'll
notice the first three sets of numbers are usually
the same within that local network, right? So
within those local networks, the range of those
255 addresses is determined by something called
a subnet mask. And this tells devices which part
of their IP address shows which network they're
on and which part shows their specific device
on that network. Oh okay so all the devices that
are in that local subnet they get their temporary
IP addresses from that pool of like let's say
255 and that's all controlled by one DHCP server
within that LAN. Exactly and that central management
by the DHCP server is really important because
it makes sure that no two devices on that local
network get assigned The same IP address at the
same time that would cause like a conflict and
then nobody could talk to each other on the network.
Oh yeah, for sure. OK, so the source gets into
the different ways that these IP addresses can
be assigned. And this seems like it's really
important for understanding how network administrators
manage all this stuff. There are three main ways,
right? Static, dynamic, and reserved. OK, so
let's start with static IP addresses. What are
those all about? So static IP addresses are IP
addresses that are configured by hand directly
on a specific device. And we usually use those
for devices that need to be accessible on the
network all the time. So things like your core
network devices like network switches, wireless
access points, all the things that keep the network
up and running. The article also mentions threat
management appliances and printers as really
common examples of devices that usually get static
IPs. Okay, so like all those devices that everyone
needs to be able to find reliably, they get a
permanent, unchanging address, and those static
addresses are like set aside so the DHCP server
doesn't try and give them out to anybody else,
right? Exactly. The ALTI administrator will usually
set up a specific range of IP addresses that
are only for static assignment. And then they'll
tell the DHCP server to not use those addresses
when it's assigning those dynamic IPs. And the
benefit here is that it's super reliable, and
usually it improves performance. Because those
essential devices always have the same address.
Communication with them is generally a lot faster
and more consistent. It's kind of like having
a dedicated phone line with a specific number
just for an important department. Oh, I see.
OK, that makes a lot of sense for all the really...
important always -on equipment. Now, what about
those dynamic IP addresses? It sounds like that's
what most of our everyday devices use, like our
laptops and phones, right? Yeah, exactly. Dynamic
IP addresses are like the workhorses for the
devices that connect to the network, but not
all the time. So like your laptop, desktop computer,
smartphone, tablets, all these devices will get
a new IP address assigned by the DHCP server
every time they connect. Gotcha, so like you
turn on your phone it connects to the Wi -Fi
and the ACP server says all right Here's an available
IP address you can use for now Yeah, and then
the next time you connect it could be the same
one or it could be a totally different one exactly
right That's that dynamic nature of it and like
we talked about before The network administrator
will set up the range of IP addresses that the
DHCP server is allowed to hand out and if they
run out of addresses then New devices can't join
the network until more addresses are freed up
or the network configuration is changed OK, got
it. So static for all the really important stuff
that needs to be accessed all the time dynamic
for the stuff that connects every now and then.
Now there's one more option you mentioned, reserved
IP addresses. This kind of sounds like a mix
of both. Yeah, that's right. It's kind of like
a hybrid approach. So with a reserved IP address,
The DHCP server is set up to always give the
same IP address to a specific device every time
it connects to the network. But the big difference
between a reserved IP and a static IP is that
the IP address isn't manually configured on the
device itself. The DHCP server is still managing
it. So the device still asks for an IP address
when it connects, but the DHCP server remembers
that device probably by its match address, and
it always gives it the same IP address from a
special reserved area of the pool. That's exactly
it. The DHCP server basically keeps track of
the device's MAC address and the specific IP
address. And it makes sure that whenever that
device with that MAC address asks for an IP,
it always gets the same one from that reserved
section. And the artist that gives this really
great example from technical schools, they would
have special equipment like those simulated electrical
panels or industrial interfaces. And these devices,
they might not have like... easy to use interfaces
for manually setting a static IP. So it's way
easier for the IT staff to manage it all from
the central DHCP server using reservations. Yeah,
that's a good example of why you might use reserved
IPs. So you get that same consistency of a static
IP for that device, but it's all managed centrally
through the DHCP server, which makes it easier
for the IT people. So basically, we've done this
big deep dive into MEC addresses, those permanent
identifiers that are built into the hardware,
and IP addresses, those temporary locators. We
talked about how IPv4 has changed to IPv6, which
is so much bigger, and how IPv4 works within
local networks. And we looked at all three ways
of assigning IP addresses, static for guaranteed
access, dynamic for flexibility, and reserved
for consistent assignment. That's right. And
like we said at the beginning, the whole goal
of this deep dive was to help you, our listener,
really understand these basic networking concepts.
Hopefully now, when you hear IP address, it doesn't
seem quite so confusing. Right, exactly. You
should have a way better understanding now of
how your devices talk to each other on a network
and why knowing about these addresses is so important
for anybody who deals with technology. Whether
that's at work or at school or even at home,
so now you can talk to your IT people with more
confidence. Yeah, for sure. So here's something
to think about. When you're going about your
day, think about all the different devices you
use. Which ones do you think probably have a
static IP address? Maybe it's the main printer
at the office or the wireless access points that
you connect to. And which ones are probably getting
their IP addresses dynamically every time they
join a network? Like your phone or your work
laptop. And what do you think is the reason for
those specific choices? for each type of device.
Take a look at your own network now that you
understand a little bit more about how it all
works. Great advice. Thanks. Well, that's it
for this deep dive. Thanks for listening. Yeah,
thanks for having me. See you next time. See
you later.