IP (Internet Protocol)
IP stands for Internet Protocol. Internet Protocol helps to uniquely identify each device on the network. Internet protocol is responsible for transferring the data from one node to another node in the network. Internet protocol is a connectionless protocol therefore it does not guarantee the delivery of data. For the successful delivery higher level protocols such as TCP are used to guarantee the data transmission. The Internet Protocol is divided in two types. They are:
- IPv4: IPv4 provides with the 32 bit address scheme. IPv4 addressing has four numeric fields and are separated by dot. IPv4 can be configured either using DHCP or manually. IPv4 does not provide with more security features as it does not support authentication or encryption techniques. IPv4 is further divided into five classes as Class A, Class B, Class C, Class D and Class E.
- IPv6: IPv6 is the most recent version of IP. If provided with a 128 but addressing scheme. IP adress has eight fields that are separated by colon, and these fields are alphanumeric. The IPv6 address is represented in hexadecimal. IPv6 provides with more security features such as authentication and encryption. IPv6 supports end-to-end connection integrity. IPv6 provides with more range of IP adress as compared to IPv4.
Difference between IPv4 and IPv6: IPv4 vs IPv6
Network Layer Protocols
Network Layer is responsible for the transmission of data or communication from one host to another host connected in a network. Rather than describing how data is transferred, it implements the technique for efficient transmission. In order to provide efficient communication protocols are used at the network layer. The data is being grouped into packets or in the case of extremely large data it is divided into smaller sub packets. Each protocol used has specific features and advantages. The below article covers in detail the protocols used at the network layer.