Internet Protocol – An Important Tool of WWW

IP is the abbreviation for Internet Protocol. At its turn a protocol is a standard that assures the connection between two points on a network. It refers to data protocol used for communication across a certain network. A protocol also contains a set of guidelines or rules that manages the very communication across the network.

Ethernet

IP is also known as a network layer protocol housed and governed in a data linkage known as Ethernet. Ethernet itself is nothing else but a combination of computer properties and technologies used across local area networks or LANs.

IP and Ethernet

Following this line, IP addresses are provided by Ethernet. As a whole they form a unique global Internet Protocol. Thus an IP address is basically the tool of communication and features the identity of a particular computer.

IP vs. Ethernet

The 'object' of IP is concerned with where the data ends up. The Ethernet is about the next device in the next chain of communication.

IP Versions

From 1977 to 1979, IP versions from 0 to 3 were developed. The IPv4 version was considered the most appropriate one for the wide use. So, currently IPv4 version is the most popular network layer protocol. IP v5 was designed for Internet Stream Protocol (ST), which was an experimental stream protocol. The versions from IPv6 to IPv9, were also assigned as experimental protocols. They were meant to replace Ipv4 in the nearest future. But none of them, except IPv6, are currently used and probably won't be used any more.

Though IPv4 is today used worldwide, IPv6 is the primary successor to IPv4. The main difference between the two is the change in address:

• IPv4 -- uses 32-bit addresses (~4 billion addresses)
• IPv6 -- uses 128-bit addresses (~3.4×1038 addresses)

The adoption of IPv6 is occurring very slowly, but still it the only one form of Internet Protocol to stand along with IPv4 and utilized on the World Wide Web.

United States government systems will support IPv6 at the end of 2008.

Weak Spots of IP

1. Quality Guarantees. Some compare IPv4 with post office! This is because it is considered the "best effort delivery" protocol and still it doesn't give you any guarantees within the service. While post office performs the entire operation of delivering mail with no guarantees that your mail will arrive in time, IPv4 doesn't guarantee quality or reliability in terms of connectivity to any network.

2. Data Guarantees. The lack of any data guarantees is one of the weak spots of IP. This usually can end up by: - corrupting data - losing or not assuring connectivity to a network - doubling up on the arrival of some data - losing some of the connection packets in the middle of a process

To understand this unreliable process, let's get back to the same comparison of IP data connectivity with the post office. There always is a possibility that outside factors will interfere and won't guarantee that the message will arrive in the settled period of time. But as long as the address is right the mail will eventually arrive in the right place. These are serious issues for the newest technologies, such as VoIP conference calls or VoIP systems.

IP seams to be quite a complex system, but once applied, it proves to simply provide a set of rules and regulations that transmits data across a certain network. It goes even further by including voice over IP services.